OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

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



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.

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service    pnd_aescu_002_lvp

        

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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).

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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).

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE flowers of Buckeye species

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm120326_021

March    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm120326_024

March    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm230328_2185

March    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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).

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm0504e_26

April    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm0504e_32

April    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm090419_066

April    Pickens County    SC

Keowee Toxaway State Natural Area

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm130422_629

April    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm130422_632

April    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm180408_253

April    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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...

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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...

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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).

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm200425_4205

April    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

Spring migration patterns of the ruby-throated hummingbird suggest that...

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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).

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm200425_4211

April    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm200425_4212

April    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm200425_4292

April    Pickens County    SC

Glassy Mountain Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

Keith Bradley    kab_a_sylvatica_5175

April    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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).

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_a_sylvatica_painted_2

April        

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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).

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm060506_100

May    Anderson County    SC

Clemson Forest

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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).

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

JK Marlow    jkm080726_034

July    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_aesculus_sylvatica_4r

August        

image of Aesculus sylvatica, Painted Buckeye

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

 

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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)

map
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!



 


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