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Species Native to Missouri
Common Name: red buckeye
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Sapindaceae
Zone: 4 to 8
Native Range: North America
Garden Location: Lang Family Bird Garden, Martha Love Symington Missouri Native Shade Garden
Height: 12 to 15 feet
Spread: 12 to 15 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Color: Red
Bloom Description: Bright Red
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium
Flowers: Showy Flowers
Fruit: Showy Fruit
Wildlife: Attracts Hummingbirds
Tolerates: Clay Soil
Uses: Hedge, Flowering Tree, Rain Garden
Culture
Grow in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist, fertile soils. Foliage tends to scorch and generally depreciate in dry conditions. Foliage appreciates some afternoon shade in hot summer climates. Can be grown from seed, and may flower as early as the second or third year.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Red buckeye is a deciduous clump-forming shrub or small tree with an irregular rounded crown. It typically grows 10-20’ tall. Showy, erect, 4-10” long panicles of red to orange-red, narrow-tubular flowers appear in spring. Palmately compound, shiny, dark green leaves are attractive in spring and early summer, but usually begin to decline by August. Smooth, light brown, globular (1-2” diameter) seed capsules encase 1-3 shiny seeds called buckeyes that ripen in the fall. Seeds are poisonous and are avoided by most wildlife. Fall foliage color is unremarkable. Red buckeye is native to southeastern Missouri where it typically occurs in low rich wooded valleys, at bluff bases, on wooded slopes and along streams (Steyermark). Flowers are attractive to ruby-throated hummingbirds and bloom in St. Louis at about the same time that the hummingbirds return to the area in spring migration.
Plant of Merit
Hummingbirds love the red, narrow-tubular flowers that bloom in spring in exceptionally showy, erect, terminal panicles to 4–10 inches long. Palmate, shiny green leaves are attractive in spring and early summer, but usually begin to decline by August. Leathery, beige fruit capsules enclose 1–3 seeds (buckeyes) that ripen in fall. This small, Missouri native understory tree or multi-stemmed shrub typically grows 12–20 feet tall, and makes an effective landscape specimen, screen or hedge. Best grown with some afternoon shade.
Problems
Leaf blotch can be a significant problem.
Garden Uses
Specimen flowering tree, screen or hedge.