A large buckeye tree overhangs and supports the swinging gate leading into and out of our place. Thereby, coming and going on a daily basis, we have a chance to observe a buckeye in all seasons. Year round, it always has something interesting going on.
In winter, you can spot a buckeye by the large upward-pointingshiny-brown end buds, larger than the buds on almost any other tree. In spring, these buds produce the leaves that are the prime identification mark for the tree.
Look for five leaflets radiating from the tip of a single stem, giving the appearance of a hand with fivefingers.The numerous saplings that spring up around a parent tree from seeds or root sprouts will display these distinctive leaves as soon as they are a foot or so high.
Each May large showy flower clusters composed of bright yellowpetals overhang the gateway. By late June the leaves start turning color. And by September the foliage is turning clear yellow, and the tree's starting to drop its large greenish-yellow seedpods. As these dry, thetri-parted husks open revealing three beautifully crafted mahogany-colored seeds from which the tree's name derives.
On each lustrous "buck's eye" there's a round gray scar called the"helium" where the seed was attached inside the husk.Nourishment wasfed to the seed via this area.Its resemblance to the pupil of an eyeis uncanny. These seeds are as pleasing to hold as they are to behold. Aflattened place adjacent to the "pupil" allows a person's thumb tosettle on it just so.Keep one in your pocket as a good luck charm ortalisman.If the fish aren't biting, rub your buckeye seed, spit onyour bait, and hang on.When the home team is behind and driving forthe winning score in the last seconds, place your thumb on thatflattened area, hold it there, and see what happens.
But don't get excited and eat the thing.Buckeye contains aglycoside that when combined with moisture -- as in your stomach -- produces a poisonous derivative.Pigs, horses, sheep, and childrenhave been poisoned by them, with symptoms of inflammation of the mucousmembranes, vomiting, twitching, and paralysis.
The Cherokee did once eat quantities of buckeye "meat" after firstroasting the nuts, mashing the pulp, and leaching the meal with waterfor several days.They also threw crushed raw buckeye into the deepslow-flowing pools of streams where fish were congregated in fall so asto bring the stunned quarry to the surface for gathering. And theycontinue to favor the soft, white wood of the tree for carving.
There are four native species of buckeye in the southeastern United States: Ohio, red, painted, and yellow buckeyes. Horse-chestnut, a native of Asia, was introduced into this country fromEurope as an ornamental shade tree.
Here in Western North Carolina there are two native species:painted buckeye (Aesculus sylvatica), a shrub that occasionally becomesa small tree, is rarely encountered; and yellow buckeye (A. flava,formerly designated A. octandra), our common species.
In "Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Great Smoky MountainsNational Park" (1964), naturalist Arthur Stupka reported a giantbuckeye tree 15-feet, 11-inches in circumference growing near TrilliumGap in the Smokies.Average trees are about 60-feet tall and 3-feet indiameter.They are encountered from the lowest altitudes to over6,000-feet, but flourish in the rich cove hardwoods of the middleelevations.
George Ellison is an award-winningnaturalist and writer. His wife, ElizabethEllison, is a watercolor artist and paper-maker who has a gallery-studio in Bryson City. Contact them at info@georgeellison.com or info@elizabethellisongallery.comor write to P.O. Box 1262, Bryson City, NC 28713.
