Aesculus glabra - Ohio buckeye

Ohio Buckeye Fact Sheet

Family: Hippocastanaceae – Horse-chestnut family
Latin name: Aesculus glabra
Common name: Ohio buckeye

	Habit:

	Bud:Winter terminal bud of Ohio buckeye has keel-shaped scales. Unlike the horse-chestnut, the bud of the Ohio buckeye has a dry, non-sticky appearance. Bud: lateral with leaf scars, bundle scars

	Twig damage: damage resulting from presence of 17-year cicada in summer 2007. See Cicada page.

	Branches:

	Fruit: nuts and husks on ground at base of tree Fruit: closeup of nuts and husks





	Seeds of the Ohio buckeye are a favorite of squirrels, however **Warning: Ohio buckeye is highly toxic when taken internally.** Poisonous Plant: All parts of the plant (leaves, bark, fruit) are highly toxic if ingested. Seed Production and Dissemination - The fruit is a leathery capsule containing one, two, or three seeds. The ripe seed is dark chocolate to chestnut brown, smooth and shiny, with a large, light-colored hilum so that it resembles an eye. The cotyledons are very thick and fleshy. Ohio buckeye begins bearing seeds at 8 years of age. Seeds are dispersed from early September to late October by gravity, by animal activity, and sometimes by water. The seeds ordinarily germinate in the spring after wintering on the ground.

Seed Production - Summer 2008 - The Ohio buckeye tree at Parking lot 2, and the one in Parking lot 19 produced large crops this year, but the buckeyes in the Buckeye section at lot 4 produced very small crops.

All photos on this page were taken at The Morton Arboretum.

References

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=AEGL
http://na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/aesculus/glabra.htm (7 of 8)11/1/2004 7:05:25 AM)

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Please ask for permission before using my photographs. Larger sizes and additional photographs of the tree are often available.

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