Red Buckeye
Aesculus pavia
Small tree whose scarlet flower panicles are timed to greet returning ruby-throated hummingbirds in early spring. Leafs out early and often drops its leaves by late summer. Every part is poisonous raw, the glossy buckeyes most temptingly of all.
- Family
- Sapindaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 12–15 ft
- Spacing
- 12–15 ft apart
- Light
- part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- March, April, May
- Bloom colors
- red, yellow
- Wildlife value
- hummingbirds, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~33 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- naturalizing, rain garden
- Native states
- AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, WV
Related native plants
More Aesculus species
- California Buckeye (Aesculus californica)
- Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra)
- Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava)
- Painted Buckeye (Aesculus sylvatica)
- Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)