Aesculus californica, California Buckeye (8)
In the spring California Buckeyes can be identified by their light green and delicate foliage. In summer they are best identified by their large seeds. In fall and winter, look for leafless multi stemmed trees of medium height.
The California Buckeye is another California native (Cockrell, 1976). It is generally grows in a multi-stemmed and spreading habit. It is deciduous and has large, delicate, light green palmately compound leaves and can be found in the hills and valleys of California, up into the Sierra Foothills (Barbour and Major, 1988).
Its name comes from its round, bulb-like fruit. The husk of the fruit is green and slightly soft during the spring but turns leathery and brown in the summer and fall. Inside is a large shinny, brown seed that resembles the eye of a buck. Where the seed attaches to the branch it is generally light in color and looks startlingly like a pupil. These seed drop off in fall.
Like the acorn, the Buckeye was a source of food for the Native Americans (Stuart and Sawyer, 2001). They cooked the large seed as a source of protein and carbohydrates. Today, the Buckeye’s seed is good for throwing at your friends.