Voi,. II.] 



BUCKEYE FAMILY. 



401 



2. AEsculus glabra Willd. 



AEsculus glabra Willd. Enum. 405. 1809. 



A tree, with maximum height of about 50 and 

 trunk diameter of 20', the bark rough and fetid. 

 Leaves long-petioled; leaflets 5, rarely 7, 3 / -6 / long, 

 oval, oblong or lanceolate, acuminate, narrowed at 

 the base, glabrous or slightly pubescent on the 

 veins beneath, finely and sharply serrate, short- 

 stalked or at first sessile; inflorescence loose, pubes- 

 cent, 4 / -6 / long; flowers pale yellow; calyx cam- 

 panulate; petals 4, 5 // -7 // long, slightly unequal, 

 their claws about equalling the calyx-lobes; stamens 

 curved, exserted; fruit I'-iJ^' in diameter, very 

 prickly when young, becoming smoothish at ma- 

 turity. 



Woods, Alleghanies of Pennsylvania to Alabama, 

 west to Michigan and the Indian Territory. Wood 

 soft, white, the sap-wood slightly darker; weight per 

 cubic foot 28 Ibs. Timber used for artificial limbs and 

 a variety of woodenware articles. April-May. 



Fetid Buckeye. Ohio Buckeye. (Fig. 2382.) 



3. AEsculus arguta Buckl. Shrubby or 

 Western Buckeye. (Fig. 2383.) 



AE. arguta Buckl. Proc. Phil. Acad. i860: 443. 1860. 

 A shrub, 3-io high, with smooth bark. Twigs, 

 young petioles, leaves and inflorescence somewhat 

 pubescent, becoming glabrate; leaflets 7-9, narrow, 

 3 / -4 / long, about i' wide, long-acuminate, unequally 

 serrate ; inflorescence dense, 4 / -6 / long ; flowers 

 yellow, "the centre reddish; " calyx broadly cam- 

 panulate, its lobes very obtuse; stamens exserted, 

 curved; petals 5 // -6 // long; fruit very spiny when 

 young. 



Kansas and the Indian Territory to Texas. Similar 

 to the preceding species, but apparently distinct. 

 March-April. 



4. AEsculus octandra Marsh. Yellow, 

 Sweet or Big Buckeye. (Fig. 2384.) 



AEsculus octandra Marsh. Arb. Am. 4. 1785. 

 AEsculus lutea Wang. Schrift. Nat. Fr. Berl. 8: 133. 



PL 6. 1788. 

 A Esculus flava Ait. Hort. Kew. i: 494. 1789. 



A large tree, with maximum height of S5-9O and 

 trunk diameter of 2^-3, rarely reduced to a shrub; 

 bark dark brown, scaly. Leaves petioled, the peti- 

 ole commonly slightly pubescent; leaflets 5, rarely 

 7, 4 / ~7 / long, 2'-$' wide, oval, glabrous or pubescent 

 on the veins above, more or less pubescent beneath, 

 acuminate at the apex, the lower ones oblique, the 

 others cuneate at the base, all finely serrate; inflor- 

 escence rather loose, puberulent; flowers yellow; 

 petals 4, long-clawed, connivent, the 2 upper nar- 

 rower and longer than the lower; stamens included; 

 fruit smooth even when young. 



Woods, Alleghany Co., Pa., south along the mountains 

 to Georgia, west to Iowa and Texas. Wood soft, creamy 

 white; weight per cubic foot 27 Ibs. April-May. 



AEsculus octandra hybrida (DC.) Sarg. Silva, 2: 60. 

 AEsculus hybrida DC. Cat. Hort. Monsp. 75. 1813 . 

 AEsculus jiava var. purpurascens A. Gray, Man. Ed. 3, 118. 1867. 



Flowers purplish or pink; leaflets pubescent beneath; bark light brown. West Virginia to 

 Georgia and Texas. Perhaps a distinct species. 



26 



1891. PURPLISH BUCKEYE. 



