''Aesculus pavia'', known as red buckeye or firecracker plant (formerly ''Pavia rubra''), is a species of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

. The small tree or shrub is native to the southern and eastern parts of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, found from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in the north and from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in the south. It is hardy far to the north of its native range, with successful cultivation poleward to Arboretum Mustila in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It has a number of local names, such as scarlet buckeye, woolly buckeye and firecracker plant.

Description

The red buckeye is a large shrub or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

. It reaches a height of , often growing in a multi-stemmed form. Its leaves are opposite, and are composed usually of five elliptical serrated leaflets, each long. It bears clusters of attractive dark red tubular flowers in the spring. The flowers are hermaphrodite. The smooth light brown fruits, about or so in diameter, reach maturity in early fall. The flowers are attractive to hummingbirds as well as bees.

Varieties

There are two

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

: *''Aesculus pavia'' var. ''pavia'': typical red buckeye. *''Aesculus pavia'' var. ''flavescens'': yellow-flowered red buckeye. The yellow-flowered variety, var. ''flavescens'', is found in higher country in Texas, and hybrids with intermediate flower color occur. Ornamental

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s, such as the low-growing 'Humilis', have been selected for garden use.

Hybrids

Red buckeye has hybridized with common horse-chestnut ('' Aesculus hippocastanum'') in cultivation, the hybrid being named '' Aesculus × carnea'', red horse-chestnut. The hybrid is a medium-sized tree to tall, intermediate between the parent species in most respects, but inheriting the red flower color from ''A. pavia''. It is a popular tree in large

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s and parks, most commonly the selected

'Briotii'. Hybrids of red buckeye with yellow buckeye (''A. flava'') have also been found, and named ''Aesculus × hybrida''.

Uses

The fruits are rich in saponins, which are poisonous to humans, although not particularly dangerous because they are not ingested easily. The seeds are poisonous. The oils can be extracted to make

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

, although this is not viable commercially.

Gallery

References

External links

photo of Yellow Red Buckeye

{{Taxonbar, from=Q159049

pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...

Trees of the Plains-Midwest (United States) Trees of the North-Central United States Trees of the Southern United States Trees of the Southeastern United States Trees of the South-Central United States Trees of the United States Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Trees of the Great Lakes region (North America)