The Medicinal Herb Info site was created to help educate visitors about the often forgotten wisdom of the old ways of treating illnesses. Many of today's drugs and medicines were originally derived from natural ingredients, combinations of plants and other items found in nature.

We are not suggesting that you ignore the help of trained medical professionals, simply that you have additional options available for treating illnesses. Often the most effective treatment involves a responsible blend of both modern and traditional treatments.

We wish you peace and health!

Ohio Buckeye

Scientific Names

Ohio Buckeye

  • Aesculus glabra L.
  • Horsechestnut family

Common Names

  • Buckeye
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    Parts Usually Used

    Nuts
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    Ohio Buckeye

    Description of Plant(s) and Culture

    Buckeye (named from the appearance of the seed). Any of various trees (genus Aesculus) of the horsechestnut family with large, spiny capsules enclosing shiny brown seeds.

    Small tree; 20-24 foot. The palmate leaves, 4-15 inches long, with 5 toothed leaflets (rarely 4-7), and the yellowish blooms characterize this horsechestnut. Flowers in April to May. The nuts were once used medicinally, but are considered poisonous without elaborate processing. Twigs are foul-smelling when broken. Buds not sticky; scales at tips strongly ridged. Bark rough-scaly.
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    Where Found

    A native of Ohio (called the Buckeye State). Found in rich, moist woods. West Pennsylvania, West Virginia, east Tennessee, central Alabama, central Oklahoma to Nebraska, Iowa.
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    Ohio Buckeye

    Legends, Myths and Stories

    The buckeye is best known among superstitious people as an amulet for good-luck. The seed is strung and worn as a necklace or simply carried about in pocket or purse.

    American Indians put ground nuts in streams to stupefy fish, which floated to the surface for easy harvest. They roasted buckeyes, peeled and mashed them, then leached them, with the result that the toxic principle was removed, leaving a nourishing meal.

    Old sources say the nuts will remove mildew stains from linen and a flour made from buckeyes makes an insect-proof paste of great tenacity much preferred by bookbinders. It is also said that moonshiners used the nuts to give their “liker” an aged appearance.

    Still, even though considered toxic, American Indians made food from them after elaborate processing.
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    Uses

    Ohio Buckeye traditionally used as powdered nut (minute doses) were used for spasmodic cough, asthma, intestinal irritations. Externally, tea or ointment used for rheumatism and piles.
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    Warning

    Nuts of the buckeye are toxic, causing severe gastric irritation.
    Should not be taken internally unless under medical supervision.
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    Bibliography

    Buy It! Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

    Buy It! American Folk Medicine, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973

    Buy It! Old Ways Rediscovered, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988

    Buy It! Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023

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