SOAPBERRY FAMILY SAPINDACEAE 
OHIO BUCKEYE 
Aesculus glabra Willd. 
The Soapberry family is a large family in the tropics, 
where many of its members are woody climbers. This is 
the only common representative in Illinois, and despite its 
being a large tree 
is included here be- 
cause its large and 
beautiful flowers 
bloom early, usu- 
ally in May. 
This tree is to be 
looked for in woods, 
where it is usually as- 
sociated with Sugar 
Maple and Red Oak, 
from Pennsylvania to 
Florida and west to 
Iowa and Oklahoma. 
Its leaflets are usually — 
5, which serves to dis- 
WI Od tinguish it from the 
introduced Horse 
Chestnut, Aesculus 
Hippocastanum L., which usually has 7 leaflets. 
The flowers are produced in large terminal panicles. The 
calyx has 5 somewhat unequal lobes. The corolla is pale yellow 
and consists of 4 upright but unequal petals, another distinction 
between this tree and the Horse Chestnut, whose flowers have 5 
petals. The 5-8 stamens are curved and elongated, extending 
beyond the corolla. The pistil consists of a 3-celled ovary and 1 
style. The fruit is a spiny capsule which usually contains 1-3 
very large brown seeds. These seeds are mealy and contain a 
bitter poisonous principle. 
The Red Buckeye, Aesculus Pavia L., is a highly ornamental 
shrub or small tree of southern Illinois. It is distributed from Vir- 
ginia to Kentucky and Missouri, south to Florida and Texas. The 
flowers, having a bright red corolla and tubular calyx, bloom in 
May. Stamens are not longer than the corolla. The leaves are 
smooth or soft downy beneath. The capsule fruits are smooth 
and contain 1-3 large, light brown, heavily wrinkled seeds. 
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