Painted Buckeyes

It’s painted buckeye season again here in NC. Unlike its northern cousin this tree is scrawny and unattractive. However, each leathery fruit contains one to six nuts that I think are really cool looking. All parts of the plant are toxic when ingested but fine to touch.

They are beautiful, like the conker (horse chestnut) seeds I collected as a kid. That got me thinking . . . could you use them as a laundry detergent? I know they don't fit in with Paul's ethos of only using products you can eat, but they're 100% natural. Painted Buckeye's and Horse Chestnuts are both the same Genus Aesculus and can be cross bred - hybridised.

how to use horse chestnuts to wash your clothes | natural laundry detergent

Just a thought . . .

I'd probably just spend hours photographing them Shari Millar style.

That’s pretty cool Edward. I had to look up the word “conkers” as it was completely new to me. Thanks for the links and all that good info!