Growth form: Grows straight with a rounded crown. Usually 50 to 80 feet tall.
Leaves, twigs, and bark: Leaves are opposite, palmately compound, sharply toothed.
Leaves of a Yellow Buckeye retrieved from http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/
Flowers: Flowers are a pale yellow-orange in color, showy, tublar, in clusters, usually appear in late spring.
Buckeye nut still inside capsule from tree #828. ( Photo by H. Peters 10/24/2019)
Fruits: Capsules 2 to 3 inches long, 1 1/2 to 2 inch nuts with lighter spot on one side. The nuts are poisonous.
Flowers of a Yellow Buckeye retrieved from http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/
Native range and habitat: Yellow buckeye likes deep moist habitats that are well drained, coves and they like north facing slopes. They range from New York to Georgia and west as far as Mississippi. Yellow buckeye is found mostly the southwest region of Virginia.
Distribution of Yellow Buckeye across Virginia counties (VA Botanical Associates, 2019)
Plant Family: This family has palmate compound leaves. Most of the nuts produced are non-edible.
Ecologic Importance and Uses:
Edible and Medicinal Uses: Yellow buckeye nuts are poisonous if eaten.
Wildlife: Most wildlife will not eat the nuts because of them being poisonous, however squirrels are able to eat the nuts.
Gardens and Landscaping: Yellow Buckeye is not recommended for garden uses because it produces a lot of liter such as fruits and twigs. It does make a good shade tree. This tree is idea for remote areas.
Campus Specimens - Fringe Trees
State and national champions? The largest yellow buckeye tree in the country is located in Alleghany Co. Virginia. This national champion has a trunk circumference of 295 inches, height of 81 feet, and crown spread of 56 feet. Resulting in a total of 390 points. This tree is also the Virginia State champion.
At Radford University, there is one yellow buckeye on campus. It can be found in the alumni garden between the Center for Sciences and the McConnel Library.
Tree #828
Trunk circumference: 69 inches
Tree height: 45.5 feet
Crown spread: 38.5 feet x 38.2 feet Average = 38.4 feet
Total points: 127.1
Notes: This is the only tree on campus.
References
Elpel, T. J. (2018). Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification, Edition 6.1. Hops Press, Pony, MT.
USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). 2019. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA. https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=AEFL
Virginia Botanical Associates. (2019). Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora. http://www.vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=451&search=Search
Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. (2019). Yellow Buckeye Fact Sheet, Virginia Tech Dendrology. http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/DENDROLOGY/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=140
Page created by: Heather Peters, Radford University (2019).