California Buckeye

Color: White/pale rose

Common name: California Buckeye

Latin name: Aesculus californica

Family: HIPPOCASTANACEAE

Height: 4 to 12 m

Description: Sweet-scented flowers growing in erect clusters/spikes.

Leaf: Palmately compound with five (rarely seven) leaflets, oblong to lance-shaped with finely toothed edges

Range: C&S Northwestern California, S Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada Foothills, Tehachapi Mountain Area, n&c Central Western California, SW Mojave Desert, scattered in Great Central Valley near foothills

Habitat: Dry slopes, canyons, borders of streams.

Elevation: < 1676 m

Flowering time: May–June

Notes: Perennial deciduous tree or shrub endemic to California with a long lifespan. Only buckeye limited to California. All parts of the plant are TOXIC. Native Americans used ground seed as fish poison; nectar and pollen toxic to honeybees. Photographed June 2004. Horticulture — Given no specific additional requirements, grows especially well in zones 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24 and also in zones 4, 5, and 6. Given moderate summer watering, grows especially well in zones 8, 9, and 18 and also in zones 3 and 10.

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