SAPINDACEAE - - Soapberry Family

Aesculus sylvatica Bartram — Painted or Georgia Buckeye

Painted Buckeye (Aesculus sylvatica) is a short tree or shrub of the southeastern U.S., to 33 feet tall, with an open, rounded crown, trunk slender, to 9.8 inches in diameter. The National Champion has a circumference of 80 inches, a height of 60 feet, and a crown spread of 46 feet. Georgia Buckeye is also known as Dwarf Buckeye and makes an excellent shrub / small tree for landscape purposes. The specific name sylvatica means wild, of woods or forests, from sylvan (one that frequents groves or woods).

Separating Characteristics

Multi-trunked shrub or small tree; stames shorter or slightly longer than the lateral petals; flower color yellowish-green or cream; petal margins villous, not glandular; flower stalk without glands.

Habitat

Painted Buckeye is found in the Piedmont in mesic, nutrient-rich forests, on bottomlands, lower slopes, and in ravines, in the Coastal Plain primarily on floodplains of brownwater (alluvium-carrying) rivers, in the Mountains only at low elevations.

Habitat information from:
Weakley, Alan S., Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, Working Draft of 21 May 2015.

Native Range

Primarily a Southeastern Piedmont endemic, occurring primarily in the Piedmont from south central Virginia south through central North Carolina, central South Carolina, and north central Georgia to north central Alabama, with an extension north into eastern Tennessee.

The native range of Aesculus sylvatica (Painted Buckeye)

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)].

The Georgia range of Aesculus sylvatica (Painted Buckeye)

Zomlefer, W.B., J.R. Carter, & D.E. Giannasi. 2014 (and ongoing). The Atlas of Georgia Plants. University of Georgia Herbarium (Athens, Georgia) and Valdosta State University Herbarium (Valdosta, Georgia). Available at: http://www.georgiaherbaria.org/.