Aesculus glabra - Ohio Buckeye

Habitat

Exposition

Plein soleil ou mi-ombre

Humidité

Humidité moyenne.

Sol

Tous sols.

pH

Sol acide ou calcaire

Rusticité

Zone 5

Habitat originel

Usually found in moist sites such as river bottoms and streambank soils, but it is sometimes also found on drier sites though does not grow so well there[229].

Origine géographique

South-eastern and Central N. America - Pennsylvania to Nebraska, south to Tennessee and Oklahoma.

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 [222].
• It can be dried, ground into a flour and used as a gruel .
• The seed is quite large, up to 35mm in diameter[82], and is easily harvested [K].
• It is quite rich in saponins and needs to be leached of these toxins before it becomes safe to eat - the 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 .
• By this time most of the minerals etc would also have been leached out [K].

Usages médicinaux

• Minute doses of the seed are used internally in the treatment of spasmodic coughs, asthma and internal irritations [222].
• It is used externally as a tea or an ointment in the treatment of rheumatism and piles [222].
• An extract of the bark has been used as an irritant of the cerebro-spinal system [82].

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 - close-grained, light, soft, white, but often blemished by dark lines of decay [82, 229].
• It weighs 28lb per cubic foot [235].
• It is easy to carve and resists splitting .
• Ideal to use in making artificial limbs, it is also used for woodenware, pulp etc and is occasionally sawn into lumber [82, 229, 235].

Culture

• Prefers a deep loamy well-drained soil but is not too fussy [1, 11].
• This species is the state tree of Ohio [229].
• Its growth-rate is moderate in the wild, with trees living up to 100 years [229].
• In Britain, it 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 hardy when dormant, the new growth can be damaged by late spring frosts [11].
• The twigs, bark, flowers and leaves all produce a foetid odour if crushed [229].
• 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 .