California Buckeye is a large shrub or small tree. Buckeyes are often multi-trunked. They have adapted to our Mediterranean climate by dropping their leaves early in the summer. In late spring and summer, healthy buckeyes will have brown leaves, unless they are next to a water source. 

In the spring, buckeyes are easy to identify by their large, showy flower spikes. Large, round fruits (buckeyes) droop from the tree in late summer and fall. The fruits are covered with a leathery, light-green husk that splits open when rains start in the fall. Inside the husk is a shiny light-brown seed.

Buckeye leaves are arranged in palmately compound (fanlike) groups of 5–7 leaflets.

The bark is silvery-grey.

Stewardship Considerations 

Buckeyes can live hundreds of years. Because of their slow growth rate, summer dormancy, and relatively small size, they tend to be fire-resistant. Buckeye trees can be limbed to form a single trunk. Limbing up instead of removing trees may be more effective in decreasing fuel loads as it prevents stump-sprouting. 

Bottom Left: Buckeye leaves with palmate arrangement. 

Bottom Left Center: Buckeye flower spikes in spring.

Bottom Right Center: Buckeye fruit in fall.

Bottom Right: Buckeye entering summer dormancy.

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Learn more about buckeyes from the California Native Plant Society