Red Buckeye

Aesculus pavia

Hippocastanaceae (Horsechestnut Family)

▲▼ young tree on campus

▲▼ young tree on campus

▲▼ flowres

▲▼ leaves

Location on campus:  east side of Karls Hall

             Aesculus pavia: Red Buckeye

                                       ·         leaves opposite, deciduous, palmately compound with 5-7 leaflets; leaflets obovate or narrow elliptic, 3-6" long and ½ as wide with serrate margins; dark green and glossy above, glabrous to slightly pubescent beneath; often one of the                                       first trees to leaf out in spring

                                       ·         stems stout, tan to brown with raised light brown lenticels

                                       ·         bark is brown, slightly furrowed to scaly on older trunks

                                       ·         grows 10-20' tall and wide, in irregular to rounded growth habit; may be more shrub-like than tree-like in some conditions

                                       ·         flowers are red in terminal racemes appearing in mid spring, after leaf emergence— very showy

                                       ·         fruit is a tan-brown leathery capsule with a large shiny brown nut inside

                                       ·         prefers partial shade to full sun and moist, well-drained soil

                                       ·         slow to medium growth rate

                                       ·         native to Missouri