How to Identify the Bottlebrush Buckeye

Leaf Identification

The leaves of the Bottlebrush Buckeye are palmately compound with 5 to 7 leaflets, and the leaflets are typically 4″ to 8″ long and 1″ to 4″ wide, each with a long tapering off-center tip. The margins are crenated to serrated, and the venation is pinnate. The underside is pubescent. They are usually a medium to dark green but turn buttery yellow in the fall. The leaf arrangement is opposite.

  • Leaf of Arbor Walk #89
  • Leaflet of Arbor Walk #89
  • Underside of Leaf from Arbor Walk #89
  • Leaf Cluster of Arbor Walk #89

Twig and Bud Identification

The twigs of the Bottlebrush Buckeye are grayish-brown with raised lenticels. The leaf scars are heart-shaped. The buds are orangeish-brown with gray pubescence and have many scales.

  • Bud of Arbor Walk #89
  • Twig of Arbor Walk #89

Bark Identification

The Bottlebrush Buckeye has smooth bark with lenticels.

  • Bark of Arbor Walk #89
  • Trunk of Arbor Walk #89

Fruit Identification

The Bottlebrush Buckeye has smooth, pear-shaped capsules (buckeyes) that is covered with bright yellow husk. They ripen in fall but are not edible.

  • Fruit of Arbor Walk #89

Flower Identification

The flowers of the Bottlebrush Buckeye are white, bottlebrush-shaped clusters. They are 6″ to 24″ long panicles.

  • Unbloomed Flower of Arbor Walk #89
  • Empty Flower “Bottlebrush” of Arbor Walk #89