Aesculus glabra
| Ohio buckeye | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Sapindaceae |
| Genus: | Aesculus |
| Species: | A. glabra |
| Binomial name | |
|
Aesculus glabra Willd. |
|
 |
|
| Natural range | |
The tree species Aesculus glabra is commonly known as Ohio buckeye, American buckeye, or fetid buckeye. Glabra is one of 13–19 species of Aesculus also called horse chestnuts.
It is native primarily to the Midwestern and lower Great Plains regions of the United States, extending southeast into the Nashville Basin. It is also found locally in the extreme southwest of Ontario, on Walpole Island in Lake St. Clair, and in isolated but large populations in the South (Adams County, Mississippi). It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 15 to 25 metres (49 to 82 ft) tall.
The leaves are palmately compound with five (rarely seven) leaflets, 8–16 cm (3.1–6.3 in) long and broad. The flowers are produced in panicles in spring, yellow to yellow-green, each flower 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) long with the stamens longer than the petals (unlike the related yellow buckeye, where the stamens are shorter than the petals). The fruit is a round or oblong spiny capsule 4–5 cm (1.6–2.0 in) diameter, containing 1 to 3 nut-like seeds, 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) in diameter, brown with a whitish basal scar.
The foliage and fruits contain tannic acid and are poisonous to cattle and humans.
The Ohio buckeye is the state tree of Ohio, and its name is an original term of endearment for the pioneers on the Ohio frontier, with specific association with William Henry Harrison. Capt. Daniel Davis of the Ohio Company of Associates, under Gen. Rufus Putnam, traversed the wilderness in the spring of 1788, and began the settlement of Ohio. Davis was said to be the second man ashore at Point Harmar, on April 7, 1788. He declared later that he cut the first tree felled by a settler west of the Ohio River, a "buckeye" tree. Additionally, Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, another founder of that same pioneer city of Marietta, had a tall and commanding presence; he greatly impressed the local Indians, who in admiration dubbed him "Hetuck", meaning eye of the buck deer, or Big Buckeye.
...
Wikipedia