The Birth of a Buckeye

I spent the spring, summer, and fall taking occasional pictures of my buckeye trees as they produced their nuts. For you nature lovers, here is that sequence.

I already showed you the unopened blossoms. These were from the end of April.

Unopened Buckeye Tree Flowers

By a week later, the blossoms had opened. This was early May.

Buckeye Blossoms

By the end of May, the blossoms had been pollinated, and nuts were starting to form.

Newly-formed Nuts

Here are those same nuts about a week later, in early June.

Small Nuts

By mid-June they’d lost their “new nut” look, and were getting quite a bit bigger.

Fully Formed Nuts

By mid-July they are starting to look pretty big.

Pretty Large Nuts

By mid-August, they are at full size, and any further maturing is going on inside.

Full Size Nuts

These things are heavy. You can see how they are really pulling down the branches of the tree itself.

Buckeye Branches Laden with Nuts

Now we go to mid-September, and it is birthing time. The head is crowning!

Opening

This shot gives you a look at the husk, and how the nuts are arranged inside. This particular one had three nuts inside. I’ve occasionally had a few with 5 nuts.

Actual Nuts in the Husks

Here’s a single buckeye nut, just posing for its portrait. You can see why it is called a “buck eye”.

A "Buckeye" is a Nut

Finally, by now, mid-October, it’s all over and done with. The buckeyes have lost their leaves (actually, they are among the first to do so). In preparation for next year, though, they’ve already put out the buds for next year’s leaves.

Buds for Next Year's Leaves

Go Bucks!