256. SPANISH or TEXAS BUCKEYE (_Ungnadia speciosa_ Endl.) a tall shrub
or small tree, not very common, in upland woods; native only to Texas,
New Mexico and northern Mexico; Dallas County about its northeastern
limit. Leaves: pinnately compound, ash-like but alternate, leaflets 1 to
3 inches long, wrinkled undersurface. Twigs: light brown. Bark: light
gray, thin, with numerous shallow fissures. Flowers: color of redbud,
slightly larger and averaging two weeks later, 4 or 5 slender petals and
red stamens often curving in opposite directions. Fruit: 3 or rarely 4
round, black, shiny seeds, smaller than true buckeyes but having the
pale “eye-spot”; leathery brown pods usually crack open and drop the
seeds in October or November, themselves remaining through the winter.
The seeds are powerful emetics and reputed to be poisonous. Wood: heavy,
close-grained, soft but brittle, reddish brown. K (p. 215.)
[Illustration: 256 Texas buckeye]
257. SOAPBERRY or wild chinaberry (_Sapindus drummondii_ H. & A.) a
medium-sized tree, fairly common in lowlands, a tree of the
southwest-central states. Leaves: pinnately compound of 4 to 9 pairs of
sickle-shaped leaflets about 2½ inches long with entire margins; lack
the odd terminal leaflet of walnuts and pecans. Twigs: slender, the
outer branches often drooping. Bark: light gray, rough and loosely
scaly. Flowers: small, creamy white, showy because of large size of the
terminal clusters, in May or June. Fruit: golden, or amber, translucent,
size of marbles, drooping from tips of branches, remain until spring
when they sometimes turn black. Wood: heavy, strong and splits easily
between annual rings, hence used for basket splints.
[Illustration: 257 soapberry]
258. FETID or OHIO BUCKEYE (_Aesculus glabra_ Willd.) medium shrub or
rarely small tree in this region, low or upland woods but nowhere
common. Leaves: opposite, palmately compound, of 7 to 9 slender, toothed
leaflets, 2½ to 4½ inches long, 1 to 2 wide, conspicuous in early spring
as they are among the first to open. Twigs: stout, with large opposite
buds, the terminal one containing leaves as well as flower clusters;
branches usually divide into twos. Flowers: in April, pale yellow
clusters, stamens slightly longer than the petals. Fruit: brown, glossy
seeds, flattened on one side, with a large, pale “eye-spot”; two or
three in a leathery, rounded husk, 1 to 2 inches across, covered with
short, scattered prickles. The seed was once believed to be a cure for
rheumatism when carried in the pocket. Wood: light, close-grained,
tough; used for artificial limbs, splints, woodenware and paper pulp;
ill-scented.
[Illustration: 258 Ohio buckeye]