Bottlebrush Buckeye
Arbor Walk #89
Bottlebrush Buckeye is not native to Missouri but is very adaptable to the St. Louis Region. It is a multiple stem understory small tree or large shrub which colonizes by suckering, which means a shoot arises underground from the roots. It flowers in late Spring with bottlebrush shaped inflorescences containing hundreds of small white flowers. It produces 1″ to 3″ long pear shaped, light brown capsules which contain one or more light brown seeds. This fruit, however, is poisonous to humans. Leaves turn a butter yellow color in the Fall.
Carl Linnaeus named the genus of this species after the Roman word for edible acorns, but these fruits are not edible and not in the same family as the acorn-producing oaks. This woody plant in particular does provide food for many species of hummingbirds and the Eastern swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus, though.
| Common Name | Bottlebrush Buckeye |
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| Latin Name | Aesculus parviflora |
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