256 ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALABAMA 



Aesculus octandra, Marsh. {A. fhwa, Ait.) (Ykllovv) Buckeye 



A medium-sized tree with smooth s^ray bark, yellow flowers 

 in April, and smooth pods. Sometimes cultivated for ornament, 

 like the preceding. The wood is soft, light, weak, and not very 

 durable, but it is used more or less for boxes, crates, excelsior, and 

 the unexposed parts of furniture, trunks, etc. 



Grows in rich, especially calcareous, soils in the Tennessee 

 Valley. Dr. Mohr fovnid a fine grove of it on Monte Sano in 

 Madison County, and I have seen it in Jackson and Marshall, and 

 perhaps Morgan. 



Aesculus Pavia, L. (Red) Buckeye. 



A coarsely branched shrub, or rarely a small crooked tree with 

 trunk a few inches in diameter, showy clusters of red flowers in 

 March and Apiil, and leaves and fruit much like those of A. oc- 

 tandra. The leaves develop with the flowers, earlier in spring than 

 almost any other of our deciduous woody plants, except the elder, 

 and they drop early m the fall. 



Offered for sale by nurserymen, for ornamental purposes. 

 The seeds and young shoots are poisonous to cattle, and have been 

 used for killing fish in streams. 



Grows in rich or dry woods, and in clearings, where fire is 

 infrequent, nearly throughout the state. Probably more abundant 

 in Alabama than anywhere else. (It is possible that I have con- 

 fused one or two closely related species with it, for the alleged 

 differences are based mostly on the flowers, and are therefore 

 visible only a few weeks in the year.) 



IB. Madison County (Mohr). Jackson and Marshall Counties. 



2B. Marion, Walker, Jefferson and Tuscaloosa Counties; common. 



3. Frequent throughout, or at least as far up as Etowah County. 



5. Occasional throughout. 



6A. Tuscaloosa, Chilton and Elmore Counties. 



6B. Bibb County. 



6C. Hale and Autauga Counties. 



7. Sumter, Greene, Marengo, Dallas (Cocks) and Montgomery Coun- 



ties. 



8, 9. Sumter and Marengo Counties. 



lOE. Pike and Coffee Counties. 



low. Sumter, Choctaw and Butler Counties. 



11. Choctaw and Washington Counties. 



12. Geneva County. 



13. Mobile and Baldwin Counties. 



