OHIO BUCKET I 

 . l . teulus glabra Willd. 



The Buckeye Fassilj 



HIPPOC 1ST w U BAI 



Habit and Habitat: A large shrub, or medium-sized tree, reaching 



a height "t" _0--io feel ami a trunk diameter of leas than 'J. feet, in 



. always a small, low tree or tall shrub. Usually grows in the 

 moist soil of woods along river valleys and rich uplands, is seldom abun- 

 •.t anywhere. The spreading branches and thick twigs form a broad 

 rounded crown. 



Leaves ami Buds: Leaves opposite, palmately or digitately com- 

 ind, i. e., 'five-fingered"; leaflets 5, downy when young, 3-6 inches Long, 

 \-'l inches broad, oval, gradually narrowed to the base, finely and ir- 

 regularly serrate, smooth, yellow-green above, paler beneath, bright 



yellow in autumn; petioles lone;, grooved, Blender, expanded at the ba 

 loaves fetid when crushed. Terminal buds pale brown, % inch long, 

 acute; outer Bcales whitish; inner scales yellowish-green, enlarging in 

 the spring, becoming Pj-2 inches long, and remain until leaves are 

 about half grown. 



Flowers and Fruits: Flowers produced in April, May or June, 

 small, in large terminal clusters, 5-6 inches long, 2-3 inches broad, more 

 or less downy; calyx bell-shaped, 5-lobed; petals 4. pale yellow, hairy, 

 clawed, i. e. with a slender stalk-like base; stamens 7. with long hairy 

 llks which push the stamens beyond the limits of the corolla. Fruit 

 maturing in October, a thick, leathery, prickly, brownish capsule or pod, 

 globular, about 1 inch in diameter, containing one large smooth, shiny, 

 chestnut-brown nut with a large, lighter colored scar at the base. 



Bark, Twigs and Wood: Bark of the branchlets orange to brown, 

 downy, later reddish-brown and smooth, marked with many lenticular 

 spots, finally dark brown, on the old branches and main trunk dark 

 may. densely furrowed, and broken into plates, ill-smelling when 

 bruised. The wood is white with light brown sapwood, light, soft, close- 

 tined: used in the manufacture of wooden limbs. 



Distribution in the State: The buckeye is a native of the lower 

 Mississippi valley from which region it has spread widely into the 

 adjacent states. It is quite common in the Missouri forests from which 

 it has spread northwestward into southeastern Nebraska and has ex- 

 led northward along the Missouri and Nemaha rivers through 

 Richardson. Pawnee, and Nemaha counties. It is now fairly abundant 

 in the neighborhood of Table Rock. It is occasionally planted in other 

 rts of eastern Nebraska. Map 50. 



Remark-: This interesting plant is called the Ohio buckeve be- 

 cause of the fact that it was re by a certain early French 



anist 8 ecially abundant on the banks of the Ohio river betw< 



Marietta and Pittsburg. It is an easy transition from Ohi > buckeye 

 to Ohio, the Buckeve state. The large brown seeds or nuts of this 

 nlarly supposed to core nr to keep rheumatism away from 

 th< n who carries them continually, but this notion has no m< 



scientific foundation than that the wearing of s brass or iron ring unon 

 a certain finger will protect the wearer against the ravs f various 



rrible diseasi 



— 14i 



