I'm aware of a couple of small stands of Texas Buckeye growing wild here and saw them in full bloom last April. I returned to attempt to gather seeds and can't find the trees so I'm thinking they lost all their leaves, making it virtually impossible to find them among the many other trees and brush. I did, however, find some Mexican buckeyes nearby just in time to salvage a few seeds that had not fallen. Has anyone experienced the Texas Buckeye losing its leaves in a drought?
Most Buckeye loose their leaves in late Summer because of dry conditions or fungus in wet conditions. We have lots of the Reds here but have not seen any White here but have seen then in west Texas when I was young. I too would love to have the White (Texas) Buckeye but would need to sweeten the soil here for them to grow. I do not remember ever seeing the Mexican Buckeyes in the wild but have seen them in landscapes. They have beautiful pink blooms and set pods of three seed. They are not a true Buckeye and sometimes called False Buckeye. I do have seeds for the Red Buckeye but you would need to acidify your soil in West Texas.
Yes to all that Ken said, but I have a red Buckeye in my garden and with normal garden watering it doesn't loose the leaves in summer.
The seeds usually hang on till fall when they ripen, and you might be able to find the trees by the large seeds hanging there, although in the wild the animals may have taken care of those by now.
Mexican Buckeye can often be found wild through out the Hill Country area on the hill sides. I was able to collect a large bag of seeds a month or two ago.
Ooh, now I want a white one!
But yeah to the red and yellow ones losing leaves late summer, so probably the white ones, too.
I've gotten to just carrying a roll of survey tape in the car, for marking flowering trees to come back to when the seeds are ripe. (Just tie a streamer on a little branch, don't girdle the trunk, just in case you don't make it back.)
Most Buckeye loose their leaves in late Summer because of dry conditions or fungus in wet conditions. We have lots of the Reds here but have not seen any White here but have seen then in west Texas when I was young. I too would love to have the White (Texas) Buckeye but would need to sweeten the soil here for them to grow. I do not remember ever seeing the Mexican Buckeyes in the wild but have seen them in landscapes. They have beautiful pink blooms and set pods of three seed. They are not a true Buckeye and sometimes called False Buckeye. I do have seeds for the Red Buckeye but you would need to acidify your soil in West Texas.
Kenboy, I actually found a good amount of seeds from the mexican buckeye regardless of being very late in gathering. Mostly still in the shell. The animals ate almost all that had dropped. Some were obviously even skilled at eating the inside and leaving the black shiny hull behind. I don't understand why you would think I'd need to acidify my soil for any of the false buckeyes. They grow prolifically in our limestone encrusted soil and even in solid caliche. All the ones I found in this one area alongside a highway are growing on very dry, steep rocky slopes. The mexican buckeyes have lost no leaves despite extremely dry conditions. I used to live in Brownwood and the mexican buckeyes were much more common there and they were also all growing on very dry rocky limestone slopes. And even though I'm very far west of you, I'm not in west Texas, I'm in central Texas or slightly north central Texas. Cross Timbers.
Ooh, now I want a white one!
But yeah to the red and yellow ones losing leaves late summer, so probably the white ones, too.
I've gotten to just carrying a roll of survey tape in the car, for marking flowering trees to come back to when the seeds are ripe. (Just tie a streamer on a little branch, don't girdle the trunk, just in case you don't make it back.)
My Mexican buckeye leaves have what appears to be darkish orange/brown spots/splotches. Any clue?
TX_gardener,
I think that is fairly common on buckeyes as I recall this time of the year. I don't live near any in Dallas suburbia, but when gathering seed at my dad's house recently in San Antonio I think his were headed that way also. It could also be a symptom of too much water.
As Texasflora reiterated, they seem to prefer dry rocky slopes with some shade. Seems that most of the Texas natives in central and south Texas are well adapted to drier conditions.
texasflora_com, I did not say you would need to acidify your soil for the false buckeyes ( AKA Mexican Buckeye ), I said you may need to acidify your soil for the Red Buckeye.
Buckeyes sometimes go dormant in dry Summers and loose their leaves. In real wet years they sometimes loose their leaves to fungus.
