When we first bought our house we would come up on weekends to do some much needed work on the place. Once we got into the foothills we noticed as we drove in sad looking trees with browned leaves. We thought that they were dead. And there were loads of them. Once we got settled and started to investigate our new surroundings, we were told that these sad looking trees are the native California Buckeye. So let’s take a walk around the Buckeyes shall we?

A Buckeye in bloom
In the springtime, the Buckeye is the first tree to set its leaves, usually in early April. Right now most of these trees are in bloom, and glorious they are!

The glory of the flowers on the Buckeye
The blossoms are wonderfully fragrant. The leaves are a palmate compound of generally 5 leaves.

Buckeye leaves up close
Now let’s take a step under the wonderful shade provided by this tree while it is still green!

Under the Buckeye canopy
Its growing season is short, with the trees going into dormancy around the middle of July. Sometimes you will come upon a Buckeye whose leaves have already browned yet the tree is in full bloom, and the contrast is amazing!
One of the local tales here is that the blossoms on the Buckeye are poisonous to the honeybee. In all the years of living here, we do not see any honeybees around the Buckeyes, so nature must have some signal to let them know to stay away. However, the fact is indeed that the blooms are poisonous to the honeybees.
The seeds resemble a squat pear and hang from the empty branches. You can take the seed right off the tree, November being the best time, and stick in the ground, much like an avocado pit, and give it water. It will grow. You must take care that the light spot on the seed is pointed down as that is where the roots will sprout. Water it the first year, and it should be fine on its own thereafter. The tree will grow up to 40 feet in height.
Back in history here in the Sierra Foothills, the local Indian tribes made use of this tree and its fruit. The seeds were used as a source of food when other sources were scarce. They would pound the seeds into a flour and leach out the toxic saponins that are found in the seeds. The bark would be cut from the base of the tree and used as a poultice on snakebites. Shoots of this tree were used as twirling sticks for making fires.
Next time you are in my neck of the woods, stop and take a look at the beauty of the California Buckeye!
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