Monticello Gardens

Common name: Yellow Buckeye

Family: Sapindaceae (Soapberry)

Synonym: Aesculus flava

Distribution: North America

Life form: Deciduous tree

Usage: Ornamental

Comments: Currently listed as Aesculus flava, the Yellow or Sweet Buckeye is a North America deciduous tree species typically found in rich soils on river bottoms, stream banks, and mountain slopes from southeastern Pennsylvania to northern Alabama and Georgia and down the Ohio River valley to Illinois. Yellow flowers in spring are followed by globular capsules consisting of 1-2 buckeyes encased by a leathery light brown partitioned husk. Fall color includes attractive shades of yellow and orange.
On March 22, 1798 Thomas Jefferson sent a shipment of plants from Philadelphia to his son-in-law Thomas Mann Randolph, including "yellow Horse Chestnut" for planting on the slope of the upper grove, "leading from the Pride of China trees down to the Shops, among the Catalpas, Crab apple trees & wherever there are vacant spaces."