Red Buckeye

Aesculus pavia

Hills guide picknative · Hill Countrytoxic

Red Buckeye is a small tree native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 10–20 ft tall and 10–15 ft wide. It wants part shade and low to medium water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms red and yellow in late spring. Deer rarely browse it. Good for hummingbirds.

Toxic — people, pets, livestock. All parts toxic, seeds especially. Red buckeye.

Will it grow in your yard?

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From our guide

Village of the Hills

Small understory tree with palmate leaves and upright red flower spikes in early spring.

Why it works here

One of the earliest things in bloom, and hummingbirds arrive to it. Thrives in the shade under live oaks where little else flowers.

Watch out

Drops its leaves by midsummer — that is normal, not death. Seeds are toxic if eaten.

The facts

7 sources

Type: Small tree
Sun: Part shade (3–6 hrs)
Water: Low to medium
Height: 10–20 ft
Spread: 10–15 ft
Bloom: Late Spring · red, yellow
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on calcareous, clay, dry, loam, moist, sand, well drained
Deer: High — deer rarely browse it. Foliage is toxic and deer avoid it. One of the safest shade plants here.
Wildlife: Supports hummingbirds

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesSan Antonio Prairie

2,083 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.