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6 December 2023
The Nutty Collection: Buckeyes are the Aesculus genus
Buckeyes have at all times been considered one of my favourite objects as a result of their pores and skin is easy and glossy recent out of the husk, excellent to hold in my pocket like a fear stone.
In America, the native Aesculus are generally
referred to as “buckeyes,” a reputation derived from the
resemblance of the shiny seed to the attention of a
deer [a buck’s eye]. Within the Outdated World, they’re referred to as “horse
chestnuts”—a reputation that arose from the assumption
that the timber had been intently associated to edible
chestnuts (Castanea species), and since the
seeds had been fed to horses as a medicinal remedy for chest complaints and worm ailments.— Arboretum FOundation (in Seattle): The Many Faces of Aesculus
In Pittsburgh we name all of them “buckeyes.”
Let’s go backwards within the rising season from nut to husk, flower and leaf by analyzing buckeyes planted in Schenley Park greater than 100 years in the past.
The massive nut pictured at prime left is from a European horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) native to Albania, Bulgaria, mainland Greece and North Macedonia. Every husk incorporates one to a few nuts. Generally they’re flat on one aspect. My favorites are the spherical ones.
On the tree, horse chestnut husks are spiny.
They’re produced from the white flowers which have pink (already fertilized) highlights. Discover that every leaf has seven fats leaflets. The quantity and form of the leaflets point out it is a horsechestnut.
In winter horse chestnuts are straightforward to establish by their giant, sticky finish buds.
The yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava) is native to the Appalachians and Ohio Valley and is North America’s tallest buckeye tree at 70 ft. Planted as a decorative in Schenley Park it may well hybridize with its shorter cousin, the Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra), making identification troublesome for non-botanists like me.
Yellow and Ohio buckeye nuts look loads like horse chestnuts. Seeing the husk is a giant assist as a result of yellow buckeye husks are easy …
… whereas Ohio buckeye husks are barely spiny. The slim leaves additionally point out a local buckeye. (Sure, the leaves regarded sick that yr.)
Their flowers are pale yellow (not white) and narrower than the horse chestnut’s.
Yellow buckeye buds are giant however not sticky. They’re one of many first to leaf out within the spring.
Ohio buckeye buds are strongly keeled.
For a abstract of 9 frequent buckeyes (Aesculus) utilized in landscaping see The Spruce: What’s a Buckeye?
p.s. The small buckeye nut within the prime picture is from the shrub-sized bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), planted in Schenley Park close to Panther Hole Lake. Click on right here to be taught extra.
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