The horse chestnut is native to the Balkan peninsula; specifically, the Pindus Mountains of Greece It was here that the horse chestnut got its name. The Turks would feed the chestnuts to their horses if they were suffering from a cough or other similar illness. In 1576, the tree was introduced from Istanbul to Central Europe, when the Turkish Sultan gifted horse chestnuts as a farewell gift to physician and botanist Karl Clusius. Today, horse chestnut trees grow throughout the Northern Hemisphere.