Ohio Buckeye and Fall Colors

28 Oct 2013  I went birding today, but a side purpose involved Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra) seeds. A week or so ago, I walked a trail in the woods near the lake and found several small Ohio Buckeye trees. It's a rare find here, and I wondered if I could find a tree with seeds, which resemble the eye of a buck, and hence the name.

See? The woods, (a plant and animal community with trees as the largest form of life). I remembered that from college. Olive drab windbreaker--check.  Camo boonie hat--check. (Birds see in color.) Binos--check.  Bird and tree field guides--check.

Much of the foliage here in southern Illinois is still green, which I think is not normal for this time of year. Hypothesis: It's been a dry fall, and perhaps leaves were not at optimum photosynthesis when the abscission layers closed off flow of water to the leaves. Something like that. . . .

Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) is very common here, and is the first tree here to turn colors in fall. That's what these orange leaves are. They began turning several weeks ago, and many of their leaves are now on the ground.

Another early one is Sumac. The species prevalent here is Smooth Sumac, which is almost identical to Staghorn Sumac, which is common in Stephenson County where I grew up. The difference is that Staghorn has very "hairy" twigs, whereas Smooth Sumac's twigs are--um--smooth. Other than these two species, most of the foliage is green, which is odd considering November begins Friday.

I found three Ohio Buckeye trees but they were too small to produce seeds. As a result the quest will continue.

Ohio Buckeye

5 November 2013:  I returned to the woods to find it ablaze with fall color. Kind of puts a damper on my hypothesis of dry weather as the abscissional layers were forming.

A friend and I found two more Ohio Buckeye trees, but neither was large enough to produce seeds. These smaller trees had to come from somewhere, so the solution to the mystery will have to wait until next spring.