OHIO BUCKEYE

OHIO BUCKEYE FLOWER SPIKE (Google photo)

OHIO BUCKEYE PALMATELY COMPOUND LEAF

 A PRICKLY HUSK...

...COVERS THE BUCKEYE NUT

BEAUTIFUL BUCKEYE ON MANYPENNY AVE.

Tuesday, 8:00 AM.  57 degrees F at the ferry dock, 54 on the back porch.  Wind ENE, light with occasional strong gusts.  The sky has a low overcast, it is foggy and still raining lightly after almost a half an inch of rain again last night, the humidity 98%.  The barometer is steady, at 29.97".  Tomorrow and the balance of the week should clear somewhat, with high temperatures around 60 degrees.

   We have a few Ohio buckeye trees, Aesculus glabra, in the Buckeye Family (the Hippocastanaceae) planted as street trees in Bayfield, and they have proven hardy here.  They make nice small street trees, although some people would object to the nuts, which in past times were fine objects for little boys to throw, and they make good slingshot ammo.

   The "buckeye" is the state tree of Ohio and the name of the university football team, and many Ohioans carry a buckeye nut in their pocket for good luck, particularly during deer hunting season. As a former resident of Ohio (a Buckeye), I certainly do.  An Ohio buckeye is also said to have the power to cure rheumatism if so carried.  I won't be drawn into that discussion.

   The buckeye blooms nicely in the spring, an upright, compound, creamy white flower spike.  The leaves are palmately compound, with typically five leaflets. The horse chestnut, Aesclus hippocastaneum, a much larger tree, is in the same family and has a quite similar leaf and nut (the latter without the distinctive "eye").

   There are a number of other buckeye species hardy further south, and numerous hybrids of the various species, and some, including the hybrid 'Fort McNair' that are quite hardy and very beautiful. 

   There are many nuts this year and as soon as they fall from the tree they can be collected and used for propagation or as good luck charms, help yourself from beneath the  street tree growing on Manypenny Ave. between 5th and 6th Streets.

   For more on the Ohio buckeye and other buckeyes, use the blog search engine to find earlier posts.