Common Name : Ohio Buckeye

Latin Name : Aesculus glabra

Description : The Ohio Buckeye is an extremely useful tree for the Red River Valley and surrounding area. It can have a fall color which varies from bright yellow to a deep maroon, with many shades in between. The attractive mahogany-colored nut ripens in September, and although it is slightly toxic to humans, it is a favorite of the squirrels. The unique five-pronged leaves droop like minature umbrellas in the spring, and later fan out to provide a deep shade. The bark becomes ruddy and rustic early in the life of the tree, and the stout trunk makes the tree look old and gnarled well before it is over head height.

Unfortunately, the Ohio Buckeye is seldom planted, for many reasons.

First, the Ohio Buckeye is a difficult tree for nurseries to transplant and sell. The deep tap root doesn’t lend itself to growing in a pot, and cutting the tap root off during moving can often kill the tree. Ideally, the tree will be root-pruned in the nursery--that is, the nursery will cut the roots with a big U-blade which goes under the tree, requiring the buckeye to send out more side roots.

Because the root of the young Buckeye tree can be much larger than the top, it is not an easy tree to convince customers to purchase. For a bare root Buckeye tree is real ugly, and a potted one isn’t likely to look healthy, so the problem is one of marketing.

Lastly, the Ohio Buckeye is one of those trees which works well in the Red River Valley and surrounding area, but doesn’t seem to work as well in the landscape further south. Therefore, writers and publications further south tend to ignore the tree.

But people who see an established Ohio Buckeye in the landscape often fall in love with the tree, and are willing to go through the slight hassle of finding one on the market and planting it properly.