The Ohio Buckeye tree is has oppositely arranged leaves that are palmately compound. The leave margins are entire and they are known to assemble into what looks like “wheel spokes.” One noticeable trait is that the bud has ridges that build from the center if you look at it very closely when looked at under a hand lens.
This tree was located on the Sawmill State Wildlife Education Area, which is a wetland area that is being protected and preserved from habitat destruction. In some parts of the park there are trees that have their trunks entirely submerged in the swamps and other parts you had the ability to walk on solid land. This was located along the bank where there was ground to walk on.
Something interesting about the tree was how the buckeyes had not sprouted yet. I believed that it would have been the long enough into the year that the buckeyes had not began to sprout and the tree had no flowers. As I walked through the wetlands it was clear that this had been the case for more than just my tree, although some did begin to flower, they were mainly just leaves. This also made if harder to identify the kind of buckeye tree.
The funny thing about my walk is that once I saw one buckeye tree, I feel like I noticed every single one after that. Since the assignment was to find 8 trees, I started to get frustrated over time at thinking I had found a new kind of tree, and realizing that I had yet again found another buckeye.
Ohio Plants, EEOB 2210