Scientific name:

Aesculus californica

Family: Sapindaceae or Soapberry

Blooms: May - July

Plant Height:4 - 12 cm

Habitat: Dry slopes

About: This is one of the most distinctive trees found in the county, and is particularly common on the Monterey Peninsula. It has striking flowers, pinkish-white, in erect 15–25 cm long spikes. Butterflies seem to love the flowers, but they are toxic to Asian and European honeybees. Fruits develop slowly over the summer months, becoming large brown capsules 5–8 cm across, with a felty outer husk. This splits open to reveal the large smooth seed inside, similar to the related European Horse Chestnut. These seeds readily germinate when conditions are right. The leaves are palmate with 5–7 lance-oblong leaflets, each 6–17 cm long. The tree is summer-deciduous, losing its leaves in late summer, an interesting adaptation to the dry conditions typical of our summer and fall.

*For more information about the family of flowers please click here!