Ohio Trees

Bulletin 700-00

Aesculus – Buckeye, Horsechestnut

Buckeyes and horsechestnuts are deciduous trees with large winter buds having several pairs of outer scales. Leaves are opposite, long-petioled, and palmately compound with five to nine toothed leaflets. Flowers are borne in upright, many-flowered panicles and are showy. Fruit is a large, fleshy nut.

Key to Aesculus Species

Description of Species

Ohio Buckeye–Aesculus glabra

The Ohio buckeye is the state tree and is common throughout Ohio. It may reach a height of 60—70 feet and a diameter of 18—24 inches (41—61 cm) but is usually smaller. The trunk is usually short, limby, and knotty. The crown is generally open and is made up of small, spreading branches.

The leaves are palmately compound, opposite on the stem, and contain five or more leaflets. The leaflets are 31/4—43/4 (81/2—12 cm) long. Leaves are generally like those of the yellow buckeye though smaller and fetid. The leaves usually turn yellow and fall early in the autumn. Sometimes the fall color is a soft orange and quite attractive.

	Ohio Buckeye

Twigs are orange-brown to reddish-brown in color. Winter buds are not sticky. The bark is light gray, but on old trees it is divided into flat scales which make the stem of the tree rough. The bark is ill-smelling when bruised.

The flowers are greenish-yellow to cream-colored and appear in clusters 5—8 inches (13—20 cm) long during April or May. The fruit is regularly rounded, pale brown, and generally thin-walled. Upon breaking into two to three valves, the bright, shiny, mahogany-colored seeds are disclosed. Fruits are prickly and mature in September.

In 1818, F. Michaux described the Ohio Buckeye or American horsechestnut in North American Sylva, Vol. II, page 218, saying, "It is unknown in the Atlantic part. I have found it only beyond the mountains and particularly on the banks of the Ohio where it is common. It is called 'Buckeye' by the inhabitants but as the name has been given to the Yellow Buckeye (lutea), I have called it 'Ohio Buckeye.'" This was the origin of the name "Ohio Buckeye."

The wood is light, soft, weak, and decays rapidly when exposed. It is used for artificial limbs, paper pulp, and occasionally for lumber. The wood is also used for fuel.

Common Horsechestnut–Aesculus hippocastanum

	Common Horsechestnut

The horsechestnut has been carried by man from its original home in the mountains of Greece over a considerable part of the civilized world. It is a sturdy, rapidly growing tree now found in every state. The tree is quite urban-tolerant and long-lived in urban situations but is disfigured by a leaf-blotch disease.

The leaves are opposite, palmately compound, and have five to seven leaflets. The leaflets are 4—10 inches (10—25 cm) long and about 2 inches (5 cm) wide. The leaflets are inversely egg-shaped and arranged in a fanlike form.

The flowers appear in May or June and are white with throats dotted with yellow and purple. The floral panicle is arranged in an upright cluster between 8—12 inches (20-301/2 cm) high. The fruit is a leathery, round capsule about 2 inches (5 cm) across, roughened with spines, containing one to three shiny brown nuts. The nut closely resembles the Ohio buckeye.

The bark is dark brown, and breaks up into thin plates which peel off slowly. The twigs are stout, reddish-brown, smooth, obscurely dotted with breathing pores, and marked with large, horseshoe-like leaf scars, each with five to seven groups of bundle scars.

The buds are large, varnished, reddish-brown, and very resinous. This characteristic distinguishes the tree from the yellow buckeye and Ohio buckeye which have non-resinous buds. Buds are larger and more sticky than others in the genus. The wood is soft, light, weak, and white.

Yellow (Sweet) Buckeye–Aesculus octandra

The yellow buckeye ranges from western Pennsylvania through southern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, to Iowa and Oklahoma, and south to Georgia and Texas. It is confined to southern Ohio, extending northward to Monroe and Fairfield counties. Rich bottom lands and lower slopes are its favorite home. It never occurs in pure stands, but is usually found in mixtures with other hardwoods.

The yellow buckeye is also called sweet buckeye and is the largest member of this interesting tree group. It can reach a height of 110 feet and a diameter of 4 feet. Its leaves, flowers, fruit, bark, twigs, and buds resemble those of the Ohio buckeye, but it is a more massive tree.

Yellow (Sweet) Buckeye

Five leaflets are 4—6 inches (10—15 cm) long. The leaves are opposite, palmately compound, and have five, and sometimes seven, leaflets. The entire lower leaf surface is more permanently pubescent in this tree than in the Ohio buckeye. Fall color is an attractive, soft orange. Foliage is resistant to the leaf-blotch problems experienced by Ohio buckeye.

The buds are non-resinous. The sticky-bud characteristic is very helpful in distinguishing this tree from the horsechestnut, which has very resinous buds. It can be distinguished from Ohio buckeye by its smoother and lighter-colored bark as well as its larger size.

Flowers are yellow and bloom in May or June. The anthers of its flowers remain within the corolla, while those of the Ohio buckeye extend beyond the corolla. Fruits are without prickles and mature in September. The capsule of its fruit contrasts with that of the Ohio buckeye and horsechestnut that is warty or spiny.

The wood is light, soft, weak, and white to pale yellow in color. It is used for paper pulp, woodenware, slack cooperage, artificial limbs, and locally for lumber and interior finishing. In some sections of Ohio, the yellow buckeye is planted as an ornamental tree.

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