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- 

 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 i 

 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 coroUa. 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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