North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Aesculus flava

Aesculus flava Aiton

yellow buckeye

Synonym(s): Aesculus octandra, Aesculus octandra var. vestita, Aesculus octandra var. virginica

Image ID: 7588
Image by: Parkins, Grant Morrow
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: AEFL
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Aesculus flava
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-09-16

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: AESCU
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Aesculus
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Buckeye
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 13 species, trees and shrubs, of temperate e. North America, w. North America, e. Asia, and se. Europe.
GENUS IDENTIFICATION: Identification notes: The following hybrids are known from our area: Aesculus ×neglecta Lindley [flava × sylvatica] and Aesculus ×mutabilis (Spach) Scheele [pavia × sylvatica]. They can be recognized by their intermediate morphology.
GENUS REFERENCES: Hardin (1957a, 1957b)=Z; Harris, Xiang, & Thomas (2009) Acevedo-Rodríguez, van Welzen, Adema, and van der Ham in Kubitzki (2011).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: HIPPOC
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Hippocastanaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: A. Richard 1823
FAMILY COMMON: Horse-chestnut Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family…
FAMILY REFERENCE:

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO:
STEMS:
LEAVES:
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS:
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 50 to 75 ft.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Shrub, Tree

LEAF ARRANGEMENT:
LEAF COMPLEXITY:
LEAF RETENTION: Deciduous

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: April-June

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
			x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Yellow flowers

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
x				x

FRUITING PERIOD: Aug.-Sept.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: Yellow buckeye thrives in the rich moist soils of Appalachian coves, where it is most commonly found. If grown in good soil, it can make a wonderful, unusual specimen tree; it can also adapt well to urban sites. Large showy panicles of yellow flowers give way to fist-sized capsules enclosing lustrous brown seeds. In fall the leaves turn yellow-orange. Some consider it good luck to carry a seed or buckeye in their pockets. The term buckeye comes from the whitish scar found the seed, giving it the appearance of a deerâ€™s eye. This genus supports up to 32 species of lepidoptera.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes: Wood from the tree was used for artificial limbs before better materials were available.

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 4
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 8
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly, Bird Friendly, Hummingbird Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
1134	HORT	2006-09-23	Ward	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
7015	1998-0284			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
9890	7015	73	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
9891	7015	77	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
9892	7015	79	NCBG staff	1967-12-31	View
13681	0	66	Liloia	0000-00-00	View
13776	0	71	Liloia	0000-00-00	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: AEFL
USDA Common Name: Yellow Buckeye
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, DC, GA, IL, IN, KY, MD, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Tree, Shrub

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACU				FACU			FACU	FACU

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Aesculus flava
COMMON NAME: Yellow Buckeye
SYNONYMY: [= C, K1, K2, Pa, Va, W; = A. octandra Marshall - F, G, RAB, Z; < A. octandra - S (also see A. sylvatica)]
PHENOLOGY: Late Apr-mid Jun; Aug-Sep.
HABITAT: Moist forests, up to nearly 2000m, especially prominent in seepy cove forests, in the Piedmont only in montane habitats.
COMMENTS: A broad Southern Appalachian endemic: sw. PA, s. OH, s. IN, and s. IL south through KY, WV, sw. VA, and TN to n. AL, n. GA, nw. SC, and w. NC. A. flava is one of the largest, most massive, and commonest trees in Southern Appalachian coves, recognizable in winter by the bark of large plate-like slabs, thick twigs, and massive form. Meyer & Hardin (1987) discuss the nomenclatural issues relating to the names A. flava and A. octandra.
RANGE MAP: Aesculus flava.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Hippocastanaceae A. Richard 1823 (Horse-chestnut Family)
SUMMARY: A family…
REFERENCE:

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Aesculus L. (Buckeye)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 13 species, trees and shrubs, of temperate e. North America, w. North America, e. Asia, and se. Europe.
REFERENCE: Hardin (1957a, 1957b)=Z; Harris, Xiang, & Thomas (2009) Acevedo-Rodríguez, van Welzen, Adema, and van der Ham in Kubitzki (2011).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Aesculus flava in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Aesculus flava in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Aesculus flava in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Aesculus flava in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Aesculus flava in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Aesculus flava

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 7588 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 7588 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 8692 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 54470 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)