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July 2025: Bottlebrush Buckeye
- TreesLexington Staff
- Aug 10
- 2 min read
By Andy Mead
The July Tree of the month is actually a large shrub. It is the Bottlebush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora). It comes with plenty of plusses and a word of caution.You can see the specimen in the photo on the back side of the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden at 577 East Third Street (on the corner of E. Third and Nelson Avenue).
Bottlebrush Buckeye is a deciduous shrub native to the southeastern United States. It is multi-stemmed and can take
up a lot of space, growing 8 to 12 feet tall and 8 to 15 feet wide, with a horizontal oval shape. Its dark green compound leaves have 5 to 7 leaflets which turn a rich buttery yellow in the fall. In early summer it puts on a show with tall white bottlebrush-like flowers contrasted by red or pink anthers for an effect that has been likened to a giant candelabra. The flowers attract butterflies and many other pollinators and are favored by ruby-throated hummingbirds.
In the fall brown pear-shaped buckeyes appear on mature plants. Related to the horse chestnut, these buckeyes are a good food source for chipmunks and squirrels, but here’s where the caution comes: They are poisonous to humans, cats, dogs and livestock (deer and rabbits avoid them).
The Bottlebrush Buckeye is a good plant for filling shady and partially shady spots with fertile, well-drained moist soil. It doesn’t like drought conditions, especially when young.
Here are sites that will tell you more:
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