| Ohio Buckeye |
| Location: South edge of tree
"island" along east side of main entry drive |
| This is the official tree of the
State of Ohio, the Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus
glabra). All buckeyes are members of the Hippocastanaceae,
the Horsechestnut Family, with European and North American
members. Familiar members of this family are the European
Horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastaneum),
a common lawn tree in our area (but not yet on campus) and the Yellow
Buckeye (Aesculus flava), a
native of southern Ohio and planted in front of Eisenhower Hall.
The word "Buckeye" stems from the resemblance of the nut to the eye of
a deer. Ohio Buckeye is a relatively small tree compared to the Horsechestnut or Yellow Buckeye. Its palmately compound leaves are about the size of a salad plate while the leaves of the other species are as large as a dinner plate. There usually are five leaflets on each leaf, all attached at a common point. The yellowish green flowers are in an elongate, upright cluster. The stamens protrude beyond the mouth of the petal tube. Buckeye nuts are a rich brown, smaller than the nuts of the other species. The light colored "eye" on the nut is smaller in diameter. The "husk" of the fruit is warty to slightly prickly while the fruit of the Horsechestnut is very prickly and is smooth in the Yellow Buckeye. Wood from Buckeye trees is very light in color, almost white and very light weight. It carves easily and does not split as it dries. This explains why the early pioneers of Ohio used the wood for butter bowls, baby cradles, butter paddles, spoons, and wooden legs. The wood was even cut into thin strips and woven into hats. The nuts are poisonous (but not to squirrels!) and were often ground and added to library paste to keep insects from eating the book bindings. The Ohio General Assembly finally enacted a law officially designating the Buckeye as the Ohio tree in 1953, more than 100 years after Ohioans were first called "Buckeyes." -- David Kramer
|
| Return
to top of Nature Sign List |
Return to D.
Kramer Web Site |