My Corner Online

Flower Index Index by Family Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 Set 6

Aesculus pavia L. | Red Buckeye, Scarlet Buckeye , Firecracker Plant

First Bloom Dates:

2019 - probably purchased

2022 April 23

2023 April 17

2024 April 16

Aesculus pavia L. | Red Buckeye, Scarlet Buckeye , Firecracker Plant

Sapindaceae (Soapberry or Maple family) Pronounced Sap-in-DAY-see-eye

Formerly in the Hippocastanaceae (Horse Chestnut Family) Pronounced Hip-oh-kass-TAY-num, so it is listed incorrectly on many websites. Lychee, horse chestnut, and Maple are also now in the Sapinaceae Family.

Pronounced ES-kew-lus PAH-vee-ah

The name Aesculus is Latin for a kind of oak bearing edible acorns. The name Pavia honors Peter Paaw who was a 16th century Dutch botanist.

The Red Buckeye can be trimmed like a tree or be more like a bush. It grows very slowly which was a big plus for us as I could be put closer to the house and be able to maintain it without fuss.

Also, the tree or bush grows to about 15 to 20 feet high, making it a shorter tree and more desirable for me in my yard. Since it grows slowly, I can keep it shorter.

The Red Buckeye is also a native plant in North America, which is a big plus.

Red buckeye has red flowers, but mine are more mauve at first which is good because I'm not a fan of red. The flowers are campanulate (bell-shaped) (so fun to learn new words). The flower clusters are 6 to 10 inches long.

Mine is planted near my hummingbird feeder in hopes that it will attract the birds.

The "fruit" is called a nut by most folks and a "buckeye" by even more folks. The buckeyes arrive around September through November, after the leaves fall off.

Do not eat the leaves, nuts (buckeyes aka fruit), but squirrels love the nuts. The deer do not like them. Some people make crafts with them.

The leaves are palmately (again learning new words!) which means several leaves are joined at a central point like the fingers of an open hand (or a palm I suppose). I absolutely love the leaves on my Red Buckeye. All over the internet it says that the Red Buckeye has 5 leaflets on the leaves, so I guess the fingers are called "leaflets!" However, I counted 7 on mine! The internet said that Ohio Buckeyes have 7 and Red Buckeyes have 5, but Ohio Buckeyes have yellow flowers so mine certainly cannot be the other, so what is up with that? I poked around some more on the internet and found some places that said Red Buckeyes have 5 to 7 leaflets. In my case, this seems to be more true.

The leaves have fine "little tooths" and are shiny green on the top and whitish underneath. The leaves make me think of little umbrellas.

The leaves drop off by the end of Summer, which is normal, and sad, so consider this when choosing a place to plant the Red Buckeye. The leaves will drop quicker if it is a year with less rainfall. Also consider that this tree is shade-loving and may not take the Summer heat well.

Early settlers made soap from the plant’s roots and home remedies from the bitter bark.

There are other Buckeyes:

The Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra) is probably the most famous with the football team. It has a nut which is quarter-size and a dark brown husk. It is tall at about 60 feet. There are 7 leaflets, instead of 5. The flowers are greenish-yellow. Ohio is known as the Buckeye State and has adopted this Ohio Buckeye as its State tree.

The Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava) or Sweet Buckeye has a nut (seed) that is larger than a quarter and mahogany in color. It is tall at 50 to 75 feet.

The Red Buckeye (mine) has a nut with a smooth husk, and there are no spines on the nut-hull, and the fruit is smaller. There are 5 leaflets.

2024

This is what I see first as a sign of life on my Red Buckeye.

Sometimes you just have to stand in the garden for a while to see things of fascination! This moth or butterfly photo was taken while filming the above video.