Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Malvids: Sapindales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Aesculus sylvatica
FAMILY
Sapindaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Painted Buckeye at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Aesculus sylvatica
FAMILY
Hippocastanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Aesculus sylvatica
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 116-01-001:
Aesculus sylvatica FAMILY Hippocastanaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aesculus octandra
COMMON NAME:
Painted Buckeye
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_aescu_002_lvp
)
Alan S. Weakley asw_754829995987903
January
When fruit's been borne at twig tips, paired buds result, w a flat fruit stem scar between them, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
JK Marlow jkm080329_009
March Pickens County SC
Keowee Toxaway State Natural Area
One of the first woody plants to leaf out in Spring (in March), per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
JK Marlow jkm120326_018b
March McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
Stamens are shorter than lateral petals, & the calyx & pedicel lack glands, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
COMPARE
flowers of Buckeye species
)
JK Marlow jkm120326_021
March McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm120326_024
March McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm230328_2185
March Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm230328_2187
March Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
Known to hybridize with A. pavia, resulting in plants with reddish flowers, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm0504e_26
April McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm0504e_32
April McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm090419_066
April Pickens County SC
Keowee Toxaway State Natural Area
)
JK Marlow jkm130422_629
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm130422_632
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm180408_253
April McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm200425_4124
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
In NC and other areas of SC this species produces rather dull, green flowers...
)
JK Marlow jkm200425_4185
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
... but here at Glassy this species shows a rich salmon to red coloration...
)
JK Marlow jkm200425_4196
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
... and what an outstanding show it is!, per Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve (McMillan, 2003).
)
JK Marlow jkm200425_4205
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
Spring migration patterns of the ruby-throated hummingbird suggest that...
)
JK Marlow jkm200425_4209
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
... hummingbirds could be vectors of long-distance pollen dispersal, per Hybridization and Introgression in Buckeyes (DePamphilis & Wyatt, 1989).
)
JK Marlow jkm200425_4211
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm200425_4212
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm200425_4292
April Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
)
Keith Bradley kab_a_sylvatica_5175
April McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_a_sylvatica_painted
April
Recognized by unequal yellow-green to cream flower petals, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_a_sylvatica_painted_2
April
)
JK Marlow jkm060506_094
May Anderson County SC
Clemson Forest
Opposite, palmately compound leaves with 5-7 pinnately veined leaflets, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm060506_100
May Anderson County SC
Clemson Forest
)
Dan Whitten sdw_paintedbuckeye
June Pickens County SC
Clemson Forest
One of the 1st woody plants to lose its leaves in summer (beginning in June), per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
JK Marlow jkm080726_034
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_aesculus_sylvatica_4r
August
)
JK Marlow jkm200920_7299
September Pickens County SC
Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve
Capsule 2-4cm broad, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Aesculus sylvatica
FAMILY
Sapindaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Aesculus sylvatica
FAMILY
Hippocastanaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Aesculus sylvatica
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 116-01-001:
Aesculus sylvatica
FAMILY
Hippocastanaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Aesculus octandra
32
Shrub; Tree
Perennial
Habitat: In the Piedmont in mesic, nutrient-rich forests, on bottomlands, lower slopes, and in ravines, in the Coastal Plain primarily on floodplains of brownwater (alluvium-carrying) rivers (most notably the Roanoke River in NC), in the Mountains only at low elevations, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Piedmont (uncommon ro rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Palmately compound
Opposite
FLOWER:
Spring
Cream/ Yellowish-green/ Pinkish
5-lobed calyx
4 petals
6-7 included stamens
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer
Brown
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p276
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p182
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p210
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p229
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p424
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p180
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p049
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p089
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p208
- The Sibley Guide to Trees (Sibley, 2009) p330
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p056
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p147
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p219
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p269
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p052
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p260
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