Post 38
Ohio Buckeye
Aesculus glabra

Location

N39º28.877'
W088º24.762'

Date Planted

May 16, 2007
Tree donated by Ryan Ghere.
Tree located at
Friendship Park
Mattoon, Illinois

Tree Description

A small to medium-sized tree (sometimes shrubby), frequently attaining a height of 20 to 40 feet;  has been known to attain a height of about 90 feet with a trunk up to 2 feet in diameter, with rounded, irregular crown.

Habitat

Typically a bottomland tree, frequenting the banks of the rivers and creeks, but will grow in valleys and mountains slopes with moist, rich soils;  may form thickets near streams.  It attains its best development in the lower Ohio and upper Mississippi River valley. 

Range

From southwestern Pennsylvania west to Iowa, south to northern Alabama and northeastern Texas.

Leaf Description

Opposite, palmately compound 7-foliate (rarely 5-foliate leaves), spreading like the fingers of a hand.  The leaflets are from 3 to 6 inches long, oval or oblong-obovate, broadest about the middle and gradually narrowed to the pointed bases and tips, with finely and irregularly toothed margins.  They are light green above, paler beneath, and smooth or nearly so.  The petioles are rather stout and from 4 to 6 inches in length.

Bark Description

The bark is ashy-gray, rather corky-warty, and on the older trunks is much furrowed and scaly.

Fruit Description

The flowers are yellow-green with an unpleasant odor, bell-shaped, 3/4 to 1 inch long, with 4 petals and 7 long stamens; in upright clusters to 6 inches;  in spring.  The fruit is a thick, leathery, prickly and almost round pod about 1 inch in diameter, borne on a stout stalk;  and usually containing a solitary, large, smooth, lustrous brown nut;  maturing in summer or fall.