Aesculus californica
3380291
196971389
2008-03-09T09:58:15Z
Eubot
231599
Removed taxobox colour. See [[User:Eubot/Removing colours from taxoboxen]].
{{Taxobox
| name = ''Aesculus californica''
| image = Aesculus_californica.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption =
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Sapindales]]
| familia = [[Hippocastanaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Aesculus]]''
| species = '''''A. californica'''''
| binomial = ''Aesculus californica''
| binomial_authority = ([[Spach]]) [[Thomas Nuttall|Nutt.]]}}
'''''Aesculus californica''''' ('''California Buckeye''' or '''California Horse-chestnut''') is a species of [[Aesculus|buckeye]] [[endemic (ecology)|endemic]] to [[California]], and the only buckeye native to the state.
It is a large [[shrub]] or small [[tree]] growing to 4-12 m tall, with gray bark often coated with [[lichen]]s. The [[leaf|leaves]] are dark green, palmately compound with five (rarely seven) leaflets, each leaflet 6-17 cm long, with a finely toothed margin and (particularly in spring) downy surfaces. The [[flower]]s are sweet-scented, white to pale pink, produced in erect [[panicle]]s 15-20 cm long and 5-8 cm broad. The [[fruit]] is a fig-shaped [[capsule (fruit)|capsule]] 5-8 cm long, containing a large (2-5 cm), round, orange [[seed]]; the seeds are [[toxin|poisonous]]. The California Buckeye is a plant adapted to a dry climate; it starts dropping its leaves as soon as summer arrives to help it conserve water.
[[Image:Californicaspike.JPG|thumb|left|240px|Flower spike of the California Buckeye ]]It can be found along the [[Central Coast, California|central coast]] and the lower elevations of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], up to 1700 m altitude. It grows in oak woodlands and is dominant in some [[chaparral]] habitats. The tree acts as a soil binder, which prevents [[erosion]] in hilly regions. It is sometimes used as an [[ornamental plant|ornamental]].
Local native tribes, including the [[Pomo people|Pomo]], [[Yokut]], and [[LuiseƱo]], used the poisonous nuts to stupefy schools of fish in small streams to make them easier to catch. The bark, leaves, and fruits contain the [[neurotoxin|neurotoxic]] [[glycoside]] [[aesculin]], which causes [[hemolysis]] of [[red blood cell]]s. Indian groups occasionally used the nuts as a food supply, after boiling and leaching the toxin out of the nut meats for several days, although it was not a preferred food. Even the nectar of the flowers is toxic, and it can kill [[honeybee]]s and other insects which haven't coevolved with the tree. When the shoots are small and leaves are new they are low in toxins and are grazed by livestock and wildlife.
==References==
Casebeer, M. (2004). ''Discover California Shrubs''. Sonora, California: Hooker Press. ISBN 0-9665463-1-8
==External links==
{{Commons|Aesculus californica}}
*[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Aesculus+californica Jepson Flora Project: ''Aesculus californica'']
*[http://www.coestatepark.com/aesculus_californica_garland.htm Photos of California Buckeye]
[[Category:Sapindaceae]]
[[Category:Poisonous plants]]
[[Category:Flora of California]]
[[es:Aesculus californica]]
[[fr:Pavier de Californie]]