It is Fall here in California, or really what qualifies as late-late summer to most people in terms of weather. September and October in the Bay Area are warm, dry and sunny - great beach weather. But in terms of native plants the California fall really begins around July, the time when many natives start going dormant as things dry out. The California Buckeye (Aesculus californica) always provides first sign of the California fall to me, and I’ve come to think of it as symbolic of the unique cycles of our native plants. The Buckeye’s leaves start drying up and dropping in July or August, and by September you are looking at its sculptural white branches – fall is already over for them. The seed pods that emerge are a sculptural piece in their own right, starting out looking like a small pear, but splitting open to reveal the large smooth Buckeye nut.

The great thing about the early fall for native plants is the early spring that follows. In a normal year we have gotten some rain by December and the Buckeye and many other natives start sprouting new growth. Again, I find this tree giving me the first signs of the changing seasons with bright green leaves emerging quickly. The California Buckeye leaves are followed by flowers in mid-spring, when the trees become covered with spikes of fragrant creamy white flowers that native bees and butterflies love. Interestingly, these flowers are poisonous to European honey bees.

The native range of the California Buckeye includes coastal northern California and the Sierra foothills. It is part of the Oak Woodland/Foothill Woodland plant community and can often be found in the Bay Area growing on hillsides with the Coast Live Oak. Naturally, the Native Americans of Northern California found many uses for the Buckeye. All parts of the tree are considered toxic to humans, but tribes such as the Pomo are said to have ground up the nuts and put them in small stream pools to “stupefy” fish so to more easily catch them. They are also said to have eaten the nuts, but only after a many day leaching process to get rid of the toxins.

I always try to work a few California Buckeye trees into my landscape designs, it is one of the more versatile small native trees, and can take a variety of soils and watering. Its sculptural branching form makes it good out among lower plantings, or in front of a wall, but it also looks good in a woodland setting, especially with the evergreen Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) as a backdrop.