Red Buckeye – Aesculus pavia | Hummingbird Tree & Cajun Woodland Healer

The Hummingbird’s First Tree of Spring

Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia) is one of the first trees to bloom in the Louisiana spring, sending up tall spikes of brilliant red tubular flowers just as ruby-throated hummingbirds arrive from their winter migration. It’s a small, understory tree perfectly suited to the dappled shade of bayou woodlands and garden edges. Traiteurs used the seeds and bark cautiously in external preparations for rheumatism and skin conditions — a plant that commands respect as much as admiration.

• Light: Part shade to full shade
• Evergreen: No
• Maintenance: Low

Plant it for the hummingbirds. Respect it for the medicine. Love it for the spring show.