MAPLE FAMILY 



(Sapindacece) 



Trees and shrubs with deciduous leaves, compound or sim- 

 ple, without stipules. Some botanists separate this family 

 into 3 distinct ones, of which the Maple, the Buckeye, and the 

 Soapberry are respective types. 



CALIFORNIA BUCKEYE (Aesculus calif ornica, Nutt.). Flow- 

 ers showy, irregular, white, yellowish or rosy in dense panicles, 

 6 inches to a foot long. Leaves long-petioled, opposite, pal- 

 mate with 5 or more leaflets. A shrub or more commonly a 

 low, spreading tree, from 10 to 20 feet high, occasionally higher. 

 Blooming in May or June. 



The California Buckeye is a common sight along stream 

 borders and canon sides of the foothills and lower slopes of the 

 Coast Ranges as well as the Sierra foothills, from the northern 

 edge of Los Angeles County to the upper Sacramento Valley. 

 It is most apt to attract attention under two very different 

 aspects in the spring when it is in the glory of its bloom, and 

 in the autumn when its bare branches are hung with the odd 

 pear-like seed vessels. The fresh seeds are poisonous, but 

 rendered edible by roasting and leaching. 

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