California Buckeye
Aesculus californica
Summer-deciduous tree that sheds its leaves in drought, lighting up late spring with fragrant white candle-like flower spikes. Sculptural silvery branches in dormancy.
- Family
- Sapindaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 15–30 ft
- Spacing
- 15–30 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- April, May, June
- Bloom colors
- white, pink
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, hummingbirds
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~33 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- specimen, hedge or screen
- Native states
- CA
Related native plants
More Aesculus species
- Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia)
- Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra)
- Yellow Buckeye (Aesculus flava)
- Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)