Aesculus glabra — Ohio buckeye
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Facts
Ohio buckeye superficially resembles horse-chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), with its showy spires of white flowers and palmate (hand-shaped) leaves, but its flowers have only 4 petals, not 5. Its wood is used in making boxes, muscial instruments, and flooring. But beware: even though some pioneers carried buckeye seeds to prevent rheumatism, its seeds and young leaves are very poisonous.
Habitat
Forest edges, forests
New England distribution
Adapted from BONAP data
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
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enlargeCharacteristics
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
- New Hampshire
- Growth form
- the plant is a tree
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is compound (i.e., made up of two or more discrete leaflets
- Leaves per node
- there are two leaves per node along the stem
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has teeth
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- armature on plant
- the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns
- Leaf blade length
- 80–120 mm
- Leaf blade width
- 30–60 mm
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is ridged or plated
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- gray
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
-
Buds or leaf scars
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
- Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)
- NA
- Collateral buds
- there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches
- Superposed buds
- there are no superposed buds on the branch
-
Flowers
- Carpels fused
- the carpels are fused to one another
- Enlarged sterile flowers
- there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant
- Flower petal color
- yellow or green
- Flower symmetry
- there is only one way to evenly divide the flower (the flower is bilaterally symmetrical)
- Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)
- NA
- Hypanthium present
- the flower does not have a hypanthium
- Inflorescence type
- the inflorescence is a panicle (branched with the individual flowers on stalks)
- Number of pistils
- 1
- Ovary position
- the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment
- Petal and sepal arrangement
- the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures
- Petal appearance
- the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)
- Petal fusion
- the perianth parts are separate
- Sepal cilia (Ilex)
- NA
- Stamen number
- 7
-
Fruits or seeds
- Berry color
- NA
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe
- Fruit type (specific)
- the fruit is a capsule (splits along two or more seams, apical teeth or pores when dry, to release two or more seeds)
- Nut with spines (Fagaceae)
- NA
- Wings on fruit
- there are no wings on the fruit
-
Glands or sap
- Sap color
- the sap is clear and watery
- Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)
- NA
-
Growth form
- Growth form
- the plant is a tree
-
Leaves
- Hairs on upper side of leaf blade
- the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs
- Leaf blade base shape
- the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has teeth
- Leaf blade edges (Acer)
- NA
- Leaf blade flatness
- the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges
- Leaf blade hairs
- the hairs on the leaf blade are different from the choices given
- Leaf blade length
- 80–120 mm
- Leaf blade shape
-
- the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
- the leaf blade is obovate (egg-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
- Leaf blade width
- 30–60 mm
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)
- NA
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Leaf stalk nectaries
- there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk
- Leaf teeth
-
- the leaf blade margin is serrate (with forward-pointing) or dentate (with outward-pointing) with medium-sized to coarse teeth
- the leaf blade margin is serrulate (with forward-pointing) or denticulate (with outward-pointing) with tiny teeth
- Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)
- NA
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is compound (i.e., made up of two or more discrete leaflets
- Leaves per node
- there are two leaves per node along the stem
- Specific leaf type
- the leaf is palmately compound with more than three leaflets
-
Place
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
- New Hampshire
- Specific habitat
-
- edges of forests
- forests
-
Scent
- Plant odor
- the plant does not have much of an odor, or it has an unpleasant or repellant odor
-
Stem, shoot, branch
- Aerial roots
- the plant has no aerial roots
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is ridged or plated
- Branch brittleness (willows only)
- NA
- First-year cane (Rubus)
- NA
- Pith shape
- the outline of the pith in a twig is roughly round
- Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)
- NA
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- gray
- Wings on branch
- the branch does not have wings on it
- armature on plant
- the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns
Wetland status
Occurs in wetlands or non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FAC)
In New England
Distribution
- Connecticut
- absent
- Maine
- absent
- Massachusetts
- absent
- New Hampshire
- present
- Rhode Island
- absent
- Vermont
- absent
Conservation status
None
From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key
1. Aesculus glabra Willd. E
Ohio buckeye. NH, also reported from ME by Campbell et al. (1995), but specimens are unknown. Forest fragments and borders.
Native to North America?
Yes
Sometimes confused with
- Aesculus hippocastanum:
- leaves usually with 7 leaflets and flowers with 5 white petals marked with yellow or red near the base (vs. A. glabra, with leaves usually with 5 leaflets and flowers with 4 yellow to green-yellow petals).