Buckeye | Identification, Uses & Facts (2024)

buckeye, any of about six species of North American trees and shrubs in the genus Aesculus of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae). The name refers to the resemblance of the nutlike seed, which has a pale patch on a shiny red-brown surface, to the eye of a deer. Like many of the related Eurasian horse chestnuts (also of the genus Aesculus), a number of buckeye species are valued as ornamental trees for their handsome candelabra-like flower clusters. Both the young foliage and the seeds are poisonous.

Physical description

Buckeye species are deciduous (i.e., they shed their leaves seasonally) or evergreen and have opposite leaves that are palmately compound (that is, with leaflets that radiate from a single point). The bisexual flowers are often showy and feature four or five fused petals. The fruits are dry capsules and have hard leathery husks that are smooth to weakly spiny. The fruits turn brown in fall and split into three parts to release one to three glossy brown inedible seeds.

Species

The most-notable species is the Ohio buckeye (A. glabra), also called fetid, or Texas, buckeye, which is primarily found in the Midwestern region of the United States. The tree grows up to 21 metres (70 feet) in height and has twigs and leaves that yield an unpleasant odour when crushed. The palmately compound leaves feature five to seven leaflets and turn orange to yellow in fall. The seeds contain tannic acid and are poisonous to cattle and humans. The plant is the state tree of Ohio, and the term buckeyes is used to refer to Ohioans in general as well as to the sports teams and players of the Ohio State University.

Native to the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States is the sweet, or yellow, buckeye (A. flava), which bears yellow flowers and is the largest buckeye species, reaching up to 27 metres (89 feet). The red buckeye (A. pavia) produces red flowers and is an attractive small tree, rarely reaching more than 7.6 metres (25 feet) in height.

The bottlebrush buckeye (A. parviflora) is an attractive shrub, native to Georgia and Alabama, that bears white flowers in erect spikes about 30 cm (1 foot) long. The painted, or Georgia, buckeye (A. sylvatica) is a rounded shrub or small tree, up to 7.6 metres (25 feet) high, with yellow to reddish flowers. The California buckeye (A. californica) is endemic to California and southwestern Oregon and features sweetly scented white-to-pink flowers. At least two other possible buckeye species are known, though their taxonomy is contentious.