Genus i. 



BUCKEYE FAMILY. 



499 



2. Aesculus glabra Willd. Fetid Buckeye 

 Ohio Buckeye. Fig. 2816. 



Aesculus glabra Willd. Enum. 405. 1809. 



A tree, with maximum height of about 75° and 

 trunk diameter of 2°, the bark rough and fetid. 

 Leaves long-petioled ; leaflets S, 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, pubescent, 4'-6' 

 long; flowers pale j'ellow ; calyx campanulate; petals 

 4, parallel. 5"-7" long, slightly unequal, their claws 

 about equalling the calyx-lobes ; stamens curved, ex- 

 serted; fruit I'-iJ' in diameter, very prickly when 

 . young, becoming smoothish at maturity. 



Woods, Pennsylvania to Alabama, west to Michigan, 

 Nebraska and Oklahoma. Wood soft, white, the sap- 

 wood slightly darker ; weight per cubic foot 28 lbs. 

 Timber used for artificial limbs and a variety of wooden- 

 ware articles. American horse-chestnut. April-May. 



3. Aesculus arguta Buckl. Shrubby or 

 Western Buckeye. Fig. 2817. 



Ae. arguta Buckl. Proc. Phil. Acad, i860: 443. i860. 



A shrub, 3°-io° high, or a small tree, 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 

 campanulate, its lobes very obtuse; stamens exserted, 

 curved; petals parallel, 5"-6" long; fruit very spiny 

 when young. 



Missouri and Kansas to Texas, and recorded from 

 Iowa. Similar to the preceding species, but apparently 

 distinct. March-April. 



4. Aesculus octandra Marsh. Yellow Sweet 

 or Big Buckeye. Fig. 2818. 



Aesculus octandra Marsh. Arb. Am. 4. 1785. 



Ae. lutea Wang. Schrift. Nat. Fr. Berl. 8 : 133. pi. 6. 1788. 



Aesculus flava Ait. Hort. Kew. i : 494. 1789. 



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



Ae. flava var. purpurascens A. Gray, Man. Ed. 3, 118. 1867. 



A large tree, with maximum height of 8s°-90° and 

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

 bark dark brown, scaly. Leaves petioled, the petiole 

 commonly slightly pubescent; leaflets 5, rarely 7, 4-7' 

 long, 2'-3' 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; inflorescence rather loose, 

 puberulent; flowers yellow; petals 4, long-clawed, con- 

 nivent, the 2 upper narrower and longer than the lower; 

 stamens included; fruit smooth even when young. 



Woods, AMeghany Co., Pa,, to Georgia, west to Iowa, 

 Oklahoma and Texas. Wood soft. Creamy white ; weight 

 per cubic foot 27 lbs. Large buckeye. April-May. 



