Common Name: buckeye
Type: Tree
Family: Sapindaceae
Native Range: Garden origin
Zone: 5 to 8
Height: 10.00 to 20.00 feet
Spread: 10.00 to 20.00 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Description: Red to orange-red
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Street Tree, Flowering Tree
Flower: Showy
Attracts: Hummingbirds
Fruit: Showy
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist, fertile soils.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Aesculus × woerlitzensis is a hybrid horse chestnut of garden origin. It is quite similar to red buckeye (Aesculus pavia), except the flower petals on this hybrid are hairy. It is a deciduous tree which typically grows 10-20' (less frequently to 40') tall. Features showy, erect, 5" long panicles of red to orange-red flowers which appear in spring and palmately compound, dark green leaves (yellow-green below) with leaflets to 6" long. Smooth, light brown, globular seed capsules (1-2" diameter) encase 1-2 shiny seeds (horsechestnuts) which ripen in the fall. Flowers are attractive to ruby-throated hummingbirds and bloom in the St. Louis area at about the same time that the hummingbirds return to the area in spring migration.
Genus name is the Latin name for a kind of oak bearing edible acorns but applied by Linnaeus to this genus.
Problems
Leaf blotch can be a significant problem.
Uses
Understory tree valued for spring flowers. Specimen or in small groups.