Plant Of The Month

Buckeyes, Part Deux!

Last month I wrote about the European horsechestnut and two buckeyes that are native to Ohio. This month I'd like to tackle two more buckeyes that are native to North America. They are Aesculus parviflora, the bottlebrush buckeye, and Aesculus pavia, the red buckeye. Although neither of these is native to Ohio, but rather to other parts of North America, they perform quite well here in the Buckeye State.

Of the several buckeyes that I have been writing about, bottlebrush buckeye is the only one that is a shrub rather than a tree, and, for me, it is one of the most interesting shrubs available to us. It is a large, multi-stemmed shrub that I have seen reaching about 10 feet in height. Its spread is a little harder to nail down as it does tend to sucker. The red buckeye is a small tree that may reach 15 feet or so in the landscape; perfect for smaller urban yards.

The leaves of both A. parviflora and A. pavia are the typical palmately compound affairs with lanceolate leaflets that one thinks of when thinking of buckeyes. The leaflets of the bottlebrush tend to be a little broader.

Besides their growth habits these two buckeyes differ radically in their flowers. The flowers of A. parviflora, which appear mid-summer, are responsible for both its specific epithet and its common name. The translation of parviflora is "small flowered" and the white flowers of the bottlebrush buckeye are, individually, truly much smaller than those of its cousins. They are produced in profusion in narrow panicles that can grow as long as fifteen inches. The stamens of the flowers protrude way beyond the petals giving the inflorescence the appearance of a narrow bottlebrush. Red buckeye definitely lives up to its name by producing flowers late in the spring to early summer that are absolutely scarlet (just add gray).

The fruits of these two buckeyes are fleshy, light brown capsules that split open to drop the buckeyes contained therein. Neither of them have the spines that some others in the genus do, and the capsule of the bottlebrush is quite pear shaped (the red buckeye also has a similar shape though not as pronounced).

These buckeyes are a much lighter brown than the mahogany color of the others in the genus. When dried the red buckeye dimples inward but more or less retains its shape. The buckeye of the bottlebrush is, to say the least, an odd duck. The light spot on it is tear-shaped rather than round, and when it dries out it shrivels up like a raisin!

Fruit production in the bottlebrush buckeye is sparse, especially in the northeast corner of the state where I live. This is due to the fact that the native range of A. parviflora is more southern where the growing season is much longer.

If you're thinking about planting them, give the red buckeye loose, well-drained soil in full sun; and, give the bottlebrush buckeye organic moist and drained soil in full sun to partial shade. Both will tolerate some shade, but both will also perform much better in full sun.

Article and photo by David Emmitt, Program Manager-Plant Science and Landscape Technology, Cuyahoga Community College, Eastern Campus. The program's curriculum is accredited by the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) and courses taught include botany, woody and herbaceous landscape plant materials and entomology. He received both his Bachelors and Masters degree from Kent State University.