Sapindaceae

Red buckeye

Aesculus pavia L.

Family: Sapindaceae
Genus: Aesculus

Pet and kid safety: not checked yet. Check pet-safe plants

Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) — FlowerPhoto: Nonbinary-Naturalist, CC0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (19)

arz: ايسكولوس بافيا
Asturian: Castañal bermeya
Bulgarian: Червен американски конски кестен
Chinese: 北美红花七叶树
Croatian: Američki crveni kesten
Czech: Jírovec pávie
Dutch: Rode pavia
English: Red buckeye, Firecracker plant
French: Pavier rouge
German: Rote Rosskastanie
hsb: Čerwjena pawija
Hungarian: Vörös vadgesztenye, Vörös bokrétafa
Macedonian: Црвен див костен
Polish: Kasztanowiec krwisty, Kasztanowiec pawia
Portuguese: Buckeye-vermelho, Planta-de-fogo-de-artifício
Russian: Конский каштан красный, Конский каштан павия
Slovenian: Rdečecvetni divji kostanj
Swedish: Amerikansk hästkastanj
Ukrainian: Гіркокаштан червоний

Synonyms

Aesculus austrina Small
Aesculus discolor Pursh
Aesculus discolor var. flavescens Sarg.
Aesculus discolor var. mollis (Raf.) Sarg.
Aesculus humilis Lindl.
Aesculus lyonii Loudon
Aesculus mollis Raf. ex Sarg.
Aesculus octandra var. discolor (Pursh) Rehder
Aesculus pavia f. flavescens (Sarg.) Geerinck
Aesculus pavia var. discolor (Pursh) Torr. & A.Gray
Aesculus pavia var. flavescens (Sarg.) Correll
Aesculus pavia var. humilis (Lindl.) Rehder
Aesculus pavia var. hybrida Kuntze
Aesculus pavia var. nana Dippel
Aesculus pavia var. pavia
Aesculus pavia var. pendula (Loudon) Rehder
Aesculus pubescens Starcs
Aesculus rubescens Tausch
Aesculus rubicunda var. whitleyi Loudon
Aesculus rubra Pers.
Aesculus splendens Sarg.
Aesculus whitleyi (Loudon) K.Koch
Macrothyrsus discolor (Pursh) Spach
Pavia americana J.St.-Hil.
Pavia atropurpurea Spach
Pavia coriacea hort. ex Dippel
Pavia fulva Raf.
Pavia glauca Raf.
Pavia humilis G.Don
Pavia intermedia Spach
Pavia lindleyana Spach
Pavia livida Spach
Pavia longiflora Raf.
Pavia lucida Spach
Pavia michauxii Spach
Pavia mollis Raf.
Pavia octandria Mill.
Pavia pubescens hort. ex Dippel
Pavia punctata Raf.
Pavia rubra Moench

and 7 more.

Flowers

In flower: March to April (from 2,469 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)
Flower colour: red (USDA PLANTS Database)

Characteristics

Growth habit: Shrub, Tree
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Canada: introduced, Lower 48 states: native

Toxicity: Severe, as listed by the USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29). USDA rates how toxic a plant is to people or livestock; it is not a pet-safety rating, so ask a vet or poison line if a pet or child ate it.

Photos

FlowerPhoto: Nonbinary-Naturalist, CC0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: macgyver97, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Michelle W. （鍾偉瑋）, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: mfeaver, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Turner Brockman, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Miavl, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Michael W Belitz, CC0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Evelyn Lazzaretti 🏳️‍⚧️, CC0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Cody Stricker, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Terry Woodward, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

More in Aesculus

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.