Painted Buckeye (Aesculus sylvatica)

Plantae>Magnoliophyta>Magnoliopsida>Sapindales>Hippocastanaceae>Aesculus sylvatica Bartram

Painted Buckeye is a deciduous large shrub or small tree common in rich bottomland forests. The deciduous leaves are palmately compound.

Penny's Bend, Durham Co., NC 4/11/09.

Painted Buckeyes produce panicles of greenish-yellow flowers from late March to late April.

Mason Farm, Orange Co., NC 4/18/09.

Granville Co., NC 4/26/09.

Terminal bud about to open in early spring.

Orange Co., NC 3/13/2011.

Painted Buckeye is one of the first trees to leaf out in the spring, as early as mid-March.

Orange Co., NC 3/13/2011.

Orange Co., NC 3/9/08.

Granville Co., NC 4/27/08.

The opposite leaves are palmately compound.

Granville Co., NC 4/27/08.

	Mason Farm, Orange Co., NC 4/20/2003.
	Durham Co., NC 4/1/07.
	Durham Co., NC 4/1/07.
	The flowers are nectar sources for hummingbirds and butterflies, such as this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). Durham Co., NC 4/1/07.
	Flowers are usually greenish-yellow, but the color is variable. Eno River State Park, Durham Co., NC 4/14/2002.
	Durham Co., NC 4/1/07.
	The straight-veined leaves are toothed. Durham Co., NC 4/14/02.
	A seedling, viewed from above, showing the distinctive leaf arrangement. Durham, NC 4/4/07.

This tree has unusual pear-shaped fruits.

Wake Co., NC 7/18/10.

Unripe fruits.

Granville Co., NC 5/16/09.

	An almost buckeye fruit. Durham Co., NC 7/24/03.
	Bark detail. Durham Co., NC 4/1/07.
	Bark of a larger tree. Mecklenburg Co., VA 5/2/05.
	Habit. Most often encountered as a sprawling large shrub in the understory of bottomland deciduous forests. Durham Co., NC 4/1/07.

cwcook@duke.edu