Discovering His Creation: Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia)

I never noticed the Red Buckeyes growing in the woods behind our house until the past few years. I'm sure they've been there for a while though. It's a small tree or shrub that's native to the south and parts of the eastern United States. They can grow up to 26 feet but these are no where near that height. Many of them are over my head and some are smaller than I am. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds are attracted to the red flowers and I even took a few pictures today of a ladybug sitting on one. This is not a plant for my wild edible list because they do contain saponins which are poisonous to humans. Saponins are glycosides and have a foaming characteristic. Because of this soap has and can be made from the roots of this plant and a black dye can be made from the wood. It does have fruit and seeds inside that appear later but are not to be eaten. It has been one year since I started to write these blogs. I thought by now I would have written and discovered all the plants, wildflowers and butterflies in this area. I now can see my journey will continue as I'm Discovering God's Creation where I live. Take time to discover the creation God placed where you are and most important get to know the Creator of it all.