{"id":15223,"date":"2023-08-10T06:39:48","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T06:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mustila.fi\/kasvit\/aesculus_glabra_ohio_buckeye\/"},"modified":"2024-02-02T14:48:29","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T14:48:29","slug":"aesculusglabra","status":"publish","type":"kasvit","link":"https:\/\/mustila.fi\/en\/plants\/aesculusglabra\/","title":{"rendered":"Aesculus glabra – Ohio buckeye"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Aesculus<\/p>\n

The Ohio buckeye is the state tree of Ohio but grows throughout the mid-western United States. In the wild it grows on rich soil in river valleys. It is not quite as large as the Balkan horsechestnut (A. hippocastanum<\/em>) but still large and broad crowned. The leaves are more slender than those of its European cousin and the dense foliage creates deep shade.<\/p>\n

This buckeye comes into leaf early, followed soon after by the flowers, yellowish-green \u201ccandlesticks\u201d, less showy than the Balkan species because the flowers don\u2019t open completely. Ohio buckeye is at its best in autumn when it turns a fiery orange.<\/p>\n

Both the thick corky bark and the flowers smell unpleasant, warning of their poisonous nature. The poisonous spiky-coated seeds and roots were sometimes used by Native Americans for fishing \u2013 seeds thrown into a pool stunned the fish, which could then be caught by hand.<\/p>\n

Mustila staff made a collecting trip to the USA in 1993 and enthusiastically gathered seed from trees growing at the edges of the cold prairies. Trees from this collection now grow \u2013 and flower – as far north as Oulu. An exception among American species, the Ohio buckeye hardens off early for winter so that its autumn colour can be enjoyed before winter sets in.<\/p>\n