Highlights
Botanical Name
Aesculus flava
As a member of the horse chestnut family, the yellow buckeye is related to other horse chestnuts and buckeyes, including man-made hybrids between the species. A native of central Appalachia and surrounding areas, it is the tallest of the buckeyes.
Yellow buckeye has opposite, palmately compound leaves that are less prone to foliar diseases than that of Ohio buckeye or horse chestnut. Young bark is smooth and light gray, then breaking into flaky rectangular plates with lighter inner-bark when mature. Carpel fruit is the largest of the buckeyes with multiple smooth dark-brown seeds.
There is one original yellow buckeye tree still living on the U.S. Capitol campus today, located on the western most border of Capitol Square near Garfield Monument.
(Photo coming soon.)
About the Olmsted Originals
Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted's 1874 General Plan for the U.S. Capitol Grounds sought to create a setting to accentuate the monumentality of the Capitol Building. Approximately 45 of Olmsted's trees remain today, having endured more than a century of urban life on the front stage of American democracy.
Each tree has its own unique features and preservation challenges, and the Architect of the Capitol's arborists employ industry best management practices to ensure these trees are given the very best care to remain safely in the landscape for current and future generations to enjoy.