The genus Aesculus contains 13 species, which grow in the United States [6], Mexico [1] and Eurasia [6]. Species cannot be separated based on microanatomy. The name aesculus is a Latin name of a European oak or other mast-bearing tree.
Other Species:
Aesculus californica California buckeye, horsechestnut
Aesculus glabra* American horsechestnut, buckeye, fetid
buckeye,
Ohio buckeye, sevenleaf buckeye, smooth buckeye,
sticking buckeye, stinking buckeye, Texas buckeye, white buckeye
Aesculus glabra var. glabra Ohio buckeye (typical)
Aesculus glabra var. arguta Texas buckeye, white buckeye
Aesculus hippocastanum buckeye, common horsechestnut, conker-tree,
European
horsechestnut, horse chestnut (Europe)
Aesculus octandra* big buckeye, buckeye, large buckeye, Ohio buckeye, sweet buckeye, yellow buckeye
Aesculus parviflora bottlebrush buckeye, shrubby buckeye
Aesculus pavia buckeye, firecracker plant, red
buckeye, red-flowered
buckeye, red pavia, scarlet buckeye, woolly, woolly buckeye
Aesculus sylvatica dwarf buckeye, Georgia buckeye, painted buckeye
*commercial species
Distribution: In the United States, buckeye ranges from
the Appalachians of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina
westward to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Buckeye is not customarily
separated from other species when manufactured into lumber and
can be
utilized for the same purposes as aspen, basswood, and sap yellow-poplar.
The following description is for yellow buckeye (Aesculus
octandra).
The Tree: Buckeye is a tree 30 to 70 ft (9 to 21 m) high and 2 ft (0.6 m) in diameter. It grows best in rich moist soil along the banks of streams and in river bottoms. Buckeye matures in 60 to 80 years. It is one of the initial trees to leaf-out in the spring. The twigs have a foul odor when broken.
General Wood Characteristics: The white sapwood of buckeye merges gradually into the creamy or yellowish white heartwood. The wood is uniform in texture, generally straight-grained, light in weight, weak when used as a beam, soft, and low in shock resistance. It is rated low on machinability such as shaping, mortising, boring, and turning. The centers of logs can be discolored to grayish brown.
Weighta
Weight
Moisture Specific (kg/m3)
content gravity (lb/ft3
)
Green 0.33 49 785
12% 0.36 25 401
Ovendry 0.38 NA NA
aReference (59).
Mechanical propertiesa
Property Green Dry
MOE 0.98 106 6.757 GPa 1.17 106 8.067 GPa
lbf/in2 lbf/in2
MOR 4.80 103 33.096 MPa 7.50 103 51.713
lbf/in2 lbf/in2 MPa
C| | 2.05 103 14.135 MPa 4.17 103 28.752
lbf/in2 lbf/in2 MPa
C 0.21 103 1.448 MPa 0.44 103 3.034 MPa
lbf/in2 lbf/in2
WML 5.4 37.233 5.9 40.681
in-lbf/in3 kJ/m3 in-lbf/in3 kJ/m3
Hardness 290 lbf 1,289.92 N 350 lbf 1,556.80
N
Shear| | 0.66 103 4.551 MPa 0.96 103 6.619 MPa
lbf/in2 lbf/in2
aReference (59).
Drying and shrinkagea
Percentage of shrinkage
(green to final moisture
content)
Type of 0% MC 6% MC 20% MC
shrinkage
Tangential 8.1 6.5 2.7
Radial 3.6 2.9 1.2
Volumetric 12.5 10.0 4.2
aReferences: 0% MC (98), 6% and 20% MC
(90).
Kiln drying schedulea
4/4, 5/4, 8/4 10/4 12/4 16/4
Condition 6/4 stock stock stock stock
stock
Standard T10-F4 T8-F3 NA NA NA
aReferences (6, 86).
Working Properties: No information available at this time.
Durability: Rated as slightly or nonresistant to heartwood decay.
Preservation: No information available at this time.
Uses: Furniture, artificial limbs, splints, boxes and crates, caskets and coffins, paper pulp, signs, trunks, valises, scientific instruments, wooden ware, novelties, food containers, strips woven into summer hats, and planing mill products.
Toxicity: The nuts and twigs are poisonous, containing aescin, a cytotoxin (54).
Additional Reading: 9, 19, 24, 27, 29, 35, 37, 51, 55, 66, 68, 74, 79.