BAYFIELD BUCKEYES

RIPENING OHIO BUCKEYE NUTS...

...PALMATELY COMPOUND BUCKEYE LEAF

Wednesday, 9:00 AM,  65 degrees F, wind mostly S,with light gusts.  The sky is clear with haze over the water.  The humidity is 84% and the barometer steady, at 30.11".  We had a surprise thunder storm about 1:00 AM that left .5" of rain in the gage.
   Buddy and I went to the beach earlier this morning, I to look for blueberries and he to run through the swamp.  We both attained our objectives, on which I will report tomorrow.

   As I have mentioned before, we have several Ohio buckeye trees on Bayfield city streets.  The one on Manypenny Ave., between fourth and fifth streets, is pictured.  The Ohio buckeye, Aesculus glabra, in the buckeye family, the Hippocastanaceae, is a small tree native to the lower midwest of the US.  There are several other related species further east and south  (and one in California)  and several in Asia,  as well as the European horse chestnut, A. hippocastanaeum, most of which hybridize with each other, so there are many horticultural hybrids with different flower colors and other characteristics of the small family.  

   The interesting, prickly fruits of our Bayfield buckeyes are ripening now, and when fully ripe the leathery pouch will split open to reveal the unique little nut that gives the tree its common name.  The palmately compound leaves typically have five leaflets, the horse chestnut seven.