DENDROLOGY. 227 



The large buckeye attains the height of 60 or 70 feet, with a 

 diameter of three or four feet. The leaves are united to the 

 number of five, at the end of a common petiole of considerable 

 length. They are lanceolate, pointed at the summit, serrate and 

 slightly furrowed. The flowers, of a light, agreeable yellow, are 

 upright and disposed in bunches at the end of the shoots of the 

 same season. They open in June. The numerous bunches of 

 flowers contrasted with the fine foliage, lend a highly ornamental 

 appearance to the tree. The fruit is contained in a fleshy, oval 

 capsule, which is often gibbous, and whose surface, unlike that 

 of the horse chesnut of Asia and of the American horse chesnut, 

 is smooth. Each capsule contains two seeds, or nuts, of an 

 equal size, flat upon one side and convex on the other. They 

 are larger and lighter colored than those of the common horse 

 chesnut, and, like them are not eatable. 



The wood of this tree, from its softness and want of durability, 

 can subserve to no useful purpose. 



Ohio Buckeye or 

 American Horse Chesnut. Pavia ohioensis. 



This species of Horse Chesnut is unknown in the Atlantic 

 parts of the United States. It is found only beyond the mountains, 

 and particularly on the banks of the Ohio, where it is very 

 common. It is called Buckeye by the inhabitants, but as this 

 name has been given to the Pavia lutea, we have denominated 

 it Ohio Buckeye, because it is most abundant on the banks of 

 this river, and have prefixed the synonyme of American Horse 

 Chesnut, because it is proved to be a proper horse chesnut by 

 its fruit, which is prickly like that of the Asiatic species, instead 

 of being smooth like that of the Pavice. 



The ordinary stature of this tree is 10 or 12 feet, but it 

 sometimes equals 30 or 35 feet in height, and 12 or 15 inches 

 in diameter. The leaves are palmated, and consist of five 

 leaflets parting from a common centre, unequal in size, oval- 

 acuminate, and irregularly toothed. The entire length of the 

 leaf is nine or ten inches, and its breadth six or eight inches. 

 The bloom of this tree is brilliant : its flowers appear early 



