Aesculus flava - Sweet Buckeye

Habitat

Exposition

Plein soleil ou mi-ombre

Humidité

Humidité moyenne.

Sol

Tous sols. Nécessite un sol drainant.

pH

Sol acide ou calcaire

Rusticité

Zone 5

Habitat originel

Rich river-bottoms and mountain slopes[82]. Woodland on moist rich soils[43]

Origine géographique

Eastern N. America - Pennsylvanica to Tennessee and west to Ohio.

Dangers connus

• The seed is rich in saponins .
• Although poisonous, saponins are poorly absorbed by the human body and so most pass through without harm .
• Saponins are quite bitter and can be found in many common foods such as some beans .
• They can be removed by carefully leaching the seed or flour in running water .
• Thorough cooking, and perhaps changing the cooking water once, will also normally remove most of them .
• However, it is not advisable to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins .
• Les saponines sont beaucoup plus toxique pour certains animaux, comme les poissons; des tribus de pêcheurs en ont traditionnellement mis de grandes quantitié dans les rivières et les lacs pour droguer ou tuer les poissons [K].

Comestibilité

• Graines - cuites .
• Said to be as sweet as a chestnut [105, 177].
• We have only eaten the immature seed, harvested in late August, but these were very tasty with no noticeable bitterness [K].
• The seed can be up to 45mm in diameter and is easily harvested [82].
• It can be dried, ground into a flour and used as a gruel .
• The seed contains saponins and needs to be leached of these toxins before it becomes safe to eat - the North American Indians would do this by slow-roasting the nuts (which would have rendered the saponins harmless) and then cutting them into thin slices, putting them into a cloth bag and rinsing them in a stream for 2 - 5 days [213, 229].
• The resulting product is said to be tasty and nutritious[229], though most of the minerals etc would have been leached out [K].
• The flowers contain a sweet nectar which is delicious when sucked out [245].

Autres usages

• Saponins in the seed are used as a soap substitute [169].
• The saponins can be easily obtained by chopping the seed into small pieces and infusing them in hot water .
• This water can then be used for washing the body, clothes etc .
• Its main drawback is a lingering odour of horse chestnuts [K].
• Wood - very soft, light, close grained, difficult to split .
• It weighs 27lb per cubic foot [235].
• It is used for making artificial limbs, wooden ware, pulp etc, and is occasionally sawn into lumber [46, 62, 82, 171].

Culture

• Prefers a deep loamy well-drained soil but is not too fussy [1, 11].
• Grows best in eastern and south-eastern areas of England probably needing a continental climate in order to thrive [126, 200].
• Although the trees are very hardy when dormant, the new growth can be damaged by late spring frosts [11].
• Plants grow well in a woodland situation, tolerating shading by larger trees [229].
• Seedlings grow away quickly, the plants reaching maturity when about 60 - 80 years old [229].
• The form Asculus flava vestita (Sarg.)Fern. is growing well at Kew Gardens .
• It has been seen with large crops of fruit on a number of occasions, even in cooler summers .
• These fruits have only been tried when immature (harvested at the end of August) but were then very tasty with no bitterness [K].
• Fruits are produced more abundantly in warm summers [130].
• Most members of this genus transplant easily, even when fairly large [11].

Propagation

• Seed - best sown outdoors or in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe [11, 80].
• The seed germinates almost immediately and must be given protection from severe weather [130].
• The seed has a very limited viability and must not be allowed to dry out .
• Stored seed should be soaked for 24 hours prior to sowing and even after this may still not be viable [80, 113].
• It is best to sow the seed with its 'scar' downwards [130].
• If sowing the seed in a cold frame, pot up the seedlings in early spring and plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer .