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Aesculus Californica

The Aesculus Californica is commonly known as Buckeye, California Buckeye, as well as Horsechestnut

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Growing Regions

California buckeye is emdemic to California. It occurs in the the Klamath and Coast Ranges from Siskiyou County County south to Los Angeles County. In the Cascade Range and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, it occurs from from Shasta County south to Kern County. California buckeye is occasionally found in the Central Valley in Yolo, Colusa, and Stanislaus Counties [5].

     

General Information

The currently accepted scientific name of California buckeye is Aesculus californica (Spach) Nutt. [18,21]. There are no recognized subspecies, varieties, or forms.

California buckeye woodland is recognized as a distinct plant community
[13].  The species may also codominate oak (Quercus spp.) woodland.
Interior live oak (Q. wislizenii) and blue oak (Q. douglasii) are the
most common codominants of oak woodland [1,2,3,22,23].  In chaparral, it
is sometimes a dominant shrub or tree [2,4].
       
The following published classification schemes list California buckeye as a
climax species or a dominant part of the vegetation in community types
(cts) or plant associations (pas):
          
          Area           Classification            Authority 

   CA:  Coast Ranges   mixed oak cts             Allen & others 1991
        w foothills 
        Sierra Nevada  foothill woodland pas     Thorne 1976
        Klamath Mts.   northern mixed            Holland 1986
                       chaparral pas
        Pinnacles
        National
        Monument       Ca buckeye woodland cts   Halverson & Clark
                                                 1986

Much of the information presented here is attributed to:
Howard, Janet L. 1992. Aesculus californica. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available at USDA Forest Service.

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