Aesculus californica Californian buckeye (Hippocastanaceae) Deciduous tree

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Aesculus californica
Californian buckeye
Deciduous tree
(1 Page of 5)

The Aesculus californica plant species is found in Southwestern N. America - California. It is a member of the Hippocastanaceae family. Common gardeners may know the plant as Californian buckeye. Some home gardeners know the variety as Pavia californica.

Cultivation | Propagation | General Uses
Medicinal | Edible Uses

Latin Name:  Aesculus californica
Common Name:  Californian buckeye
Family:  Hippocastanaceae
Author:  (Spach.)Nutt.

Known Hazards:  The seed is rich in saponins. Although poisonous, saponins are poorly absorbed by the human body and so most pass through without harm. Saponins are quite bitter and can be found in many common foods such as some beans. They can be removed by carefully leaching the seed or flour in running water. Thorough cooking, and perhaps changing the cooking water once, will also normally remove most of them. However, it is not advisible to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish[K]. The flowers of this plant are toxic to bees[94].

Mature Height:  12   Mature Width:  10

Habitat:  Moist stream borders, scrub and the edges of oak and pine woods in canyons and dry slopes below 1200 metres[71, 184, 229].

Edible Uses: Seed - cooked[22, 46, 63, 92, 94, 95]. It can be dried, ground into a powder and used as a gruel[2]. The seed contains about 23% protein and has an agreeable taste[213]. The seed is large, and can be up to 5cm in diameter[82]. It is often produced abundantly in the warmer areas of Britain and is easily harvested[K]. This was the most commonly used Aesculus species in N. America[213]. It does, however, contain poisonous saponins (see the notes above on toxicity) and so needs careful preparation before being eaten. The seed needs to be leached of these toxins before it becomes safe to eat - the Indians would do this by slow-roasting the nuts (which would have rendered the saponins harmless) and then cutting them into thin slices, putting them into a cloth bag and rinsing them in a stream for 2 - 5 days[213]. Most of the minerals etc would also have been leached out by this treatment[K].

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Cultivation | Propagation | General Uses
Medicinal | Edible Uses

The information above has been supplied solely via the hard work and dedication of the team at 'Plants for a Future'.
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