California buckeye

Aesculus californica (Spach) Nutt.

light
Sun–part
water
—
tall
6.9 m
wide
6.9 m

Sapindaceae

Formerly Calothyrsus californica, Hippocastanum californicum, Pavia californica, Pawia californica

When it flowers

Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.

Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.

PetsNC State Extension lists it as toxic to dogs, cats and horses (25 Oct 2026)
PeopleNC State Extension lists it as very poisonous (bark, flowers, fruits, leaves, roots, seeds, stems) (25 Oct 2026)

If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.

Something wrong with it?

About it

Grows as
TreeKew's checklist, not yet checked
Climate
TemperateKew's checklist, not yet checked
Wild in
CaliforniaKew's checklist, not yet checked
Light
Full sun to part shade (3 h or more)Read from NC State Extension, one source
Height
4.6 m to 9.1 mRead from NC State Extension, one source
Spread
4.6 m to 9.1 mRead from NC State Extension, one source
Flowers
White, pinkRead from NC State Extension, one source
Coldest it survives
-17.8 °C (USDA zone 7a)Read from NC State Extension, one source

Not known yet: water, heat, hottest it survives.

In other languages (11)

Spanish
Castaño de California
French
Marronnier de Californie
Estonian
kalifornia hobukastan
Chinese (China)
加州七叶树
Chinese
加州七葉樹, 加州七叶树
Russian
Конский каштан калифорнийский
Polish
Kasztanowiec kalifornijski
Hungarian
kaliforniai vadgesztenye
Slovak
pagaštan kalifornský
root
Siwu, yáwi
Ukrainian
Гіркокаштан каліфорнійський

Where this comes from

A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.