Tree/nut? What is it?

[BuckeyeDennis]

I don't normally see the spikes on the husk quite so pronounced, but other than that it does look like a genuine Ohio Buckeye tree. I checked your photos against my copy of The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees (Eastern Region), and everything I could see is a match.

[charlese]

Looks like Aesculus glabra to me. Ohio Buckeye

BTW also called Horse chestnut. (Any of the Aesculus genus)

[reible]

Interesting. The tree is right in the area where a horse arena is. It is not a large tree and alone like it might have been planted there. No similar trees near it. It is in a mowed area but not an area I normally walk by but I will try and check it from time to time and see if it drops the nuts where I can examine one closely.

Thanks for the learning experience.

Ed

[Ed in Tampa]

Looks like Aesculus glabra to me. Ohio Buckeye

BTW also called Horse chestnut. (Any if the Aesculus genus)

In Pennsylvania we always called these trees Horse Chestnut Trees. When I moved to Ohio they all called them Buckeye Trees. In either case the nut is bitter and not at all tasty. Believe me I tried enough of them to know.

Loved Chestnuts and the fruit of these trees looked identical to us kids and we just could not believe we could not eat them. Tried as we may none of us could choke down more than one or two before we lost interest and found something to do.

Rumor was horses love them, we never tried feeding one to the horse but that was the story.

[charlese]

Remember the Christmas popular song sang - ..."Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."

Reible, after you get one this Fall, put it in your pocket and wear it there for several years. It will get polished. That's what my Dad did, just to show he was proud of Ohio.