WESTERN BUCKEYE

WESTERN BUCKEYE

Aesculus glabra
BUCKEYE FAMILY (Hippocastanaceae)

Click on each photo thumbnail to enlarge.

This tree grows up to 40 feet tall, with a diameter of 1-2 feet. The bark is scaly brown (B). Its palmate leaves emerge early in the season from large buds (C). The yellow flowers are arranged in tall panicles (A,E). The fruit is a spiny capsule, larger than 1 inch in diameter. It holds a brown chestnut (G,H). The only remaining large mature tree in Fontenelle Forest has not borne mature fruit recently, only small ones which soon aborted (F). Another small tree located on Signal Ridge Trail, bore fruit in 2012 (H).

Grows in woodlands and where planted. One mature tree was found and photographed off Walking Club Trail. Another small tree was found on Signal Ridge Trail. A number of small saplings leaf out each year along Riverview Boardwalk (I), but they are usually browsed by deer by late summer.

Also known as Ohio Buckeye.

The content of NatureSearch is provided by dedicated volunteer Naturalists of Fontenelle Forest who strive to provide the most accurate information available. Contributors of the images retain their copyrights. The point of contact for this page is: Roland Barth.