Associations
provided by BioImages, the virtual fieldguide, UK
Foodplant / saprobe
pseudothecium of Guignardia aesculi is saprobic on dead, fallen, over-wintered leaf of Aesculus glabra
Remarks: season: 5
Associated Forest Cover
provided by Silvics of North America
Ohio buckeye grows in mixed stands with bur oak (Quercus
macrocarpa), chinkapin oak (Q. muehlenbergii), white
ash (Fraxinus americana), hackberry (Celtis occidentalis),
sugar maple, black walnut (Juglans nigra), black cherry (Prunus
serotina), honeylocust (Gleditsia triancanthos), Kentucky
coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus), shagbark hickory (Carya
ovata), American elm (Ulmus americana), and red mulberry (Morus
rubra) in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky (9). In Indiana, 6 percent
of the trees in a mixed hardwood stand were buckeyes; 39, 11, 16, and 28
percent were sugar maple, American elm, black walnut, and miscellaneous
species, respectively. In another stand in which more than 50 percent of
the trees were beech (Fagus grandifolia), sugar maple, hackberry,
and black walnut, buckeye constituted a little more than 10 percent.
In the mixed mesophytic climax forests of Marion and Johnston Counties,
IN, in 1819, Ohio buckeye made up 6 and 2 percent, respectively, of the
total number of stems (9), and less than 2 percent of these trees were
more than 46 cm (18 in) in d.b.h. In a few stands, however, it made up as
much as 17 percent of the total stems, ranking second in importance only
to beech.
Buckeye is a frequent or even a common tree in association with beech,
sugar maple, and American basswood (Tilia americana) in the Wabash
River Basin in southern Illinois and Indiana (9).
Ohio buckeye is not listed by the Society of American Foresters as a
major or minor component of any of the North American forest cover types
(5), probably because of its relatively minor commercial importance and
its increasing rarity. It is not a pioneer tree and thus is seldom found
on old fields or spoil-bank sites.
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Climate
provided by Silvics of North America
The average annual temperature in the growing area of Ohio buckeye
ranges from about 4° to 10° C (40° to 50° F)
(6). Average minimum temperatures are not below -29° C (-20° F)
within its range, but -40° C (-40° F) temperatures have been
recorded where it grows in Missouri and Iowa. Maximum temperatures as high
as 46° C (115° F) have occurred in the western part of its
range. Average annual precipitation ranges from 760 mm (30 in) in Kansas
and Oklahoma to 1020 mm (40 in) in Ohio and western Pennsylvania, and up
to 1400 mm (55 in) in Mississippi and Alabama. Growing-season
precipitation averages 510 to 640 mm (20 to 25 in). Snowfall ranges from 5
cm (2 in) in the southern part of the geographic distribution to 102 cm
(40 in) in the northern part. About 160 days are frost-free in the
northern part of the range and as many as 220 days in the southern part.
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Damaging Agents
provided by Silvics of North America
Ohio buckeye is relatively free of
insect pests but the sapwood timberworm (Hylecoetus lugubris),
the lacebug (Corythucha aesculi), the chrysomelid (Derocrepis
aesculi), and the walnut scale (Quadraspidiotus
juglansregiae) feed on buckeye (2).
Ohio buckeye also has relatively few diseases (6). It is susceptible to
a leaf blotch (Guignardia aesculi), which begins as brown spots or
blotches on the leaves and may eventually involve all the leaves, giving
the tree a scorched appearance. This disease may slow the growth rate but
does no permanent damage to the tree and can be controlled on ornamentals.
One of the powdery mildews, Uncincula flexuosa, also attacks the
leaves of buckeye.
A leaf rust of the Ohio buckeye that occurs in the western part of the
species range was long known as Aecidium aesculi but has now been
established by Baxter as Puccinia andropogonis (3).
Leaf blotch and leaf scorch, the latter involving a physiogenic response
to heat and drought along urban streets, may be the most serious diseases
(7). Air pollution may be more responsible for the leaf blighting than
heat or drought.
Because Ohio buckeye leafs out early in the spring, the young leaves are
sometimes killed by frost. This species is capable of withstanding severe
winters, however and has been successfully introduced in Minnesota and
Massachusetts. Moreover, the bole of the tree is not commonly damaged by
frost, and the heavy branches of the crown are seldom severely damaged by
heavy loads of sleet or snow. Apparently buckeye is not susceptible to
sunscald either.
The common eastern leafy mistletoe, Phoradendron serotinum, occurs
on Ohio buckeye, but damage is negligible (7).
Fungi capable of causing either rot of the central stem or rot at wounds
of living trees include Ganoderma applanatum, Oxyporus populinus,
Phellinus johnsonianus, and Polyporus squamosus (7). Buckeye
growing in forest stands is usually free of defect caused by decay unless
the bole has been damaged by fire.
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Flowering and Fruiting
provided by Silvics of North America
Ohio buckeye is
polygamo-monoecious, bearing both bisexual and male flowers. The pale
greenish-yellow flowers appear after the leaves in the spring from March
to May and are borne in upright branched clusters. Only those near the
base of the branches of a cluster are perfect and fertile; the others are
staminate (4,11). The fruit is a leathery capsule containing one,
two, or three seeds. The ripe seed is dark chocolate to chestnut brown,
smooth and shiny, with a large, light-colored hilum so that it resembles
an eye. 'The cotyledons are very thick and fleshy and contain no
endosperm.
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Genetics
provided by Silvics of North America
Texas buckeye (Aesculus glabra var. arguta (Buckl.)
Robins.), a shrub or small tree, ranges from southeastern Nebraska
southwest to central Texas(8).
Hybrids of Aesculus glabra with Ae. octandra (Ae.
marilandica x Booth ex Dippel), Ae. pavia (Ae. x bushii
Schneid.), and Ae. octandra x pavia (Ae. x arnoldiana Sarg.)
have been recorded (8). Intermediate hybrids exhibiting the
characteristics of both species occur as hybrid swarms, or most often,
individual plants of one species have one or more characteristics of the
other species from introgression (4).
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Growth and Yield
provided by Silvics of North America
Ohio buckeye generally develops a
strong taproot the first year. Most of the shoot growth occurs early in
the growing season. As a sapling it grows faster than most of the oaks but
slower than yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). In the open,
it is characteristically branchy with a short, knotty trunk.
Fifty Ohio buckeyes measured in Jefferson County, IN, averaged 20.7 m
(68 ft) in height and 84 cm (33 in) in d.b.h., 91 cm (36 in) above the
ground (9). Apparently these trees were larger in diameter than average
for buckeye, even though the diameter was measured lower on the bole than
the standard breast height of 1.37 m (4.5 ft). This species generally does
not grow taller than 9.1 m (30 ft) and seldom exceeds 21.3 m (70 ft) (9).
In 1978, the largest living tree registered was 116 cm (45.5 in) in
d.b.h., 44.5 m (146 ft) tall, and had a crown spread of 16.5 m (54 ft)
(1). Trees larger than 61 cm (24 in) in diameter are rare. On good
sites, the tree will reach usable sawtimber size at 60 to 80 years of age.
On poor sites, it seldom has the form or size to produce saw logs.
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Reaction to Competition
provided by Silvics of North America
Because Ohio buck-eye is often
found in beech-sugar maple stands, it must be classed as shade tolerant.
It only attains good form as a timber tree when it grows in reasonably
dense stands. Side competition and shade foster straight boles and
encourage natural pruning of this tree, which tends to have a large,
branchy crown.
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Rooting Habit
provided by Silvics of North America
No information available.
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Seed Production and Dissemination
provided by Silvics of North America
Seeds are dispersed from
early September to late October by gravity, by animal activity, and
sometimes by water. The number of hulled seeds per kilogram ranges from
105 to 150 (48 to 67/lb), and most seeds are sound (11). The seeds
have a high moisture content and should be kept moist to avoid loss of
viability.
Ohio buckeye begins bearing seeds at 8 years but no data are available
on frequency and amount of seed produced (11).
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Seedling Development
provided by Silvics of North America
The seeds ordinarily germinate in
the spring after wintering on the ground. Germination is hypogeal. If
seeds are to be sown in a nursery, they should be sown in the fall or
stratified about 120 days before spring sowing (11). No
germination has been observed on dry surface soil, even with an ample seed
supply.
Seedlings can grow under some shade, but the species seems to develop
best as isolated individuals in openings along streambanks and on other
moist sites. No data are available on early growth rates.
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Soils and Topography
provided by Silvics of North America
The buckeye is a moist-site tree and is most frequently found along
river bottoms and in streambank soils. It is often found on the moist
soils of the Early Wisconsin Drift Plain in Indiana (4). Ohio buckeye is
most commonly found growing on soils of the order Alfisols. In the early
1800's buckeye and sugar maple (Acer saccharum) were prominent on
the slope phase of the Miami silty clay loam in Ohio (9). Buckeye made up
about 5 percent of the forest stand on this soil type. Since then its
abundance has diminished.
Although Ohio buckeye is sometimes found on drier sites such as those
supporting oak-hickory stands, and on clayey soils, it usually grows
slowly in these situations and seldom becomes dominant. It is a shrub,
only 1.2 to 1.5 m (4 to 5 ft) tall, on dry habitats in the oak-hickory
association of eastern Oklahoma (9). Ohio buckeye also is found in
hardwood stands on moist sites in the limestone-sink-and-cave section of
the Bluegrass region of Kentucky and is infrequently found on the well
developed flood plains along the Missouri River in southeastern Nebraska
(9).
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Special Uses
provided by Silvics of North America
The seeds as well as the bark of Ohio buckeye are reported to be
poisonous, and the Aesculus native to Illinois is known to contain
a poisonous narcotic glucoside (9). The young shoots of buckeye are
poisonous to cattle, and landowners in Indiana have exterminated buckeye
in many areas because the seed is considered poisonous to livestock (9).
On the other hand, some buckeye seed are apparently eaten by squirrels. In
Ohio, it constitutes from 2 to 5 percent of the food of eastern fox
squirrels during the fall, winter, and spring seasons. Other studies in
Ohio list buckeye as an auxiliary food that was sampled by squirrels in
September but not eaten in quantity (9). Thus, it seems probable that the
use of buckeye seed for food by animals is not a limiting factor in its
reproduction.
Fox squirrels in Illinois were observed eating the pith from terminal
twigs (6). Buckeye pith contains 66 percent raffinose, a sweet-tasting
18-carbon sugar that is much sweeter and contains potentially more energy
than sucrose.
The wood is light and soft and is used for pulpwood, woodenware, and
occasionally for lumber(10).
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Vegetative Reproduction
provided by Silvics of North America
No information available.
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Distribution
provided by Silvics of North America
Ohio buckeye grows mostly on mesophytic sites in western Pennsylvania,
Ohio, and southern Michigan west to Illinois and central Iowa. Its range
extends south to eastern Kansas, southwestern Oklahoma, and central Texas;
east to western Arkansas, Tennessee, and central Alabama with one location
in eastern Mississippi (9). It has been planted in Europe and the eastern
United States; in eastern Massachusetts, Minnesota, and western Kansas
(11).
- The native range of Ohio buckeye.
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Brief Summary
provided by Silvics of North America
Hippocastanaceae -- Horsechestnut family
Robert D. Williams
Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra), also known as American buckeye,
fetid buckeye, and stinking buck-eye, derives its unflattering common
names from the disagreeable odor that emanates when the leaves are
crushed. The tree is an attractive ornamental, but it has limited
commercial use as sawtimber because of the soft, light wood. The bark and
seeds contain a narcotic glucoside considered poisonous to livestock,
leading many landowners to eradicate it.
- license
- cc-by-nc
- copyright
- USDA, Forest Service
Aesculus glabra
provided by wikipedia EN
Aesculus glabra, commonly known as Ohio buckeye,[2] is a species of tree in the soapberry family (Sapindaceae) native to North America.
Its natural range is primarily in the Midwestern and lower Great Plains regions of the United States, extending southeast into the geological Black Belt of Alabama and Mississippi.[3] It is also found locally in the extreme southwest of Ontario, on Walpole Island in Lake St. Clair.[4]
It is found in a variety of natural habitats, including streambanks, upland mesic forests, and along the margins of old fields.[5] It is typically found in calcareous areas.[6]
Description
The leaves are palmately compound with five leaflets 8–16 cm (3–6+1⁄2 in) long and broad. The flowers are produced in panicles in spring, red, yellow to yellow-green, each flower 2–3 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄4 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 capsule 4–5 cm (1+1⁄2–2 in) diameter, containing one nut-like seed, 2–3 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄4 in) in diameter, brown with a whitish basal scar.
The inedible seeds contain tannic acid and are poisonous to cattle and humans. The young foliage, shoots, and bark are also poisonous to some degree.[7] However, Native Americans reportedly did eat buckeye fruit after boiling it to extract tannin.[8]
Uses
Aesculus glabra has little use as a timber tree due to its soft, light wood.[7] Although occasionally seen in cultivation, the large, copiously produced fruits make it generally undesirable as a street tree.[2]
Native American ethnobotany
The Lenape carry the nuts in their pockets for rheumatism, and an infusion of ground nuts is mixed with sweet oil or mutton tallow for earaches. They also grind the nuts and use them to poison fish in streams.[9][10]
Native Americans blanched buckeye nuts, extracting the tannic acid for use in making leather. The nuts can also be dried, turning dark as they harden with exposure to the air, and strung into necklaces similar to those made from the kukui nut in Hawaii.[11]
Culture
A buckeye nut used in an early 20th-century ad, evoking the
Seal of Ohio
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. Subsequently, "buckeye" came to be used as the nickname and colloquial name for people from Ohio.[12] Ohio State University adopted "Buckeyes" officially as its nickname in 1950, and also uses the name for its sports teams.[13] It came to be applied to any student or graduate of the university.[14]
Buckeye candy, made to resemble the tree's nut, is made by dipping a ball of peanut butter fudge in milk chocolate, leaving a circle of the peanut butter exposed.[15] These are a popular treat in Ohio, especially during the Christmas and college football seasons.[16][17]
Buckeyes (the nuts) are a recurring theme in Bill Watterson's comic, Calvin and Hobbes, often as one of Calvin's tools of torment.[18] Watterson himself grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.[19]
References
-
^ Stritch, L. (2018). "Aesculus glabra". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T60757589A60757592. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T60757589A60757592.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
-
^ a b Aesculus glabra Missouri Botanical Garden
-
^ "Aesculus glabra". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
-
^ Ohio Buckeye Official website of the Ontario Government
-
^ Yatskievych, George (2013). Flora of Missouri, Volume 3. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. p. 1087.
-
^ Weakley, Alan (2020). "Flora of the Southeastern United States".
-
^ a b Ohio Buckeye, in Silvics Manual Volume 2: Hardwoods USDA Forest Service
-
^ Weeks, Sally S. (2010). Native trees of the Midwest : identification, wildlife values, and landscaping use (Rev. and expanded 2nd ed.). West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-1612490014.
-
^ Tantaquidgeon, Gladys, 1972, Folk Medicine of the Delaware and Related Algonkian Indians, Harrisburg. Pennsylvania Historical Commission Anthropological Papers #3, page 30
-
^ Tantaquidgeon, Gladys, 1942, A Study of Delaware Indian Medicine Practice and Folk Beliefs, Harrisburg. Pennsylvania Historical Commission, page 25, 74
-
^ Horton, Marcus (30 November 2019). "Football: Ohio State-Michigan rivalry inspires longstanding devotion". The Lantern. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
-
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-28. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) -
^ Walsh, Christopher (2009). Ohio State Football Football Huddleup, Triumph Books (Random House, Inc.), ISBN 978-1-60078-186-5, p. 120.
-
^ "The Ohio State University Alumni Association". Retrieved 19 September 2020.
-
^ "Buckeyes". Food Network. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
-
^ Campanelli, John (22 November 2010). "PDQ's guide to the buckeye, just in time for the OSU-Michigan game". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
-
^ "The 10 Best Places For Chocolate Buckeye Lovers Around Ohio". Columbus Navigator. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
-
^ "Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for December 14, 2009". GoComics. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
-
^ Dietz, Cortni. "Northeast Ohio Native and Calvin and Hobbes Creator Bill Watterson Has Last Hurrah". Cleveland Scene. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- license
- cc-by-sa-3.0
- copyright
- Wikipedia authors and editors
Aesculus glabra: Brief Summary
provided by wikipedia EN
Aesculus glabra, commonly known as Ohio buckeye, is a species of tree in the soapberry family (Sapindaceae) native to North America.
Its natural range is primarily in the Midwestern and lower Great Plains regions of the United States, extending southeast into the geological Black Belt of Alabama and Mississippi. It is also found locally in the extreme southwest of Ontario, on Walpole Island in Lake St. Clair.
It is found in a variety of natural habitats, including streambanks, upland mesic forests, and along the margins of old fields. It is typically found in calcareous areas.
- license
- cc-by-sa-3.0
- copyright
- Wikipedia authors and editors
