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Aesculus. The common name "Buckeye" was derived from the Native Americans who noticed that the glossy, chestnut-brown seeds with the lighter circular "eye" looked very similar to the eye of a buck (male) deer. The Native Americans roasted, peeled and mashed the buckeye nut into a nutritional meal. The early settlers found the buckeye wood to be lightweight, to be readily split, and to be easily carved or whittled. The buckeye wood has been found ideal in artificial limbs production due to its lightness and non-splitting characteristics. Early travelers and explorers carried the rare and curious buckeye to the east with them and reported the Aesculus glabra's highly prized medicinal properties and talismanic attribute of wisdom. Some believe that the buckeye relieves rheumatism pain and provides good fortune when carried in the pockets or worn as an amulet. Instantly dubbed "buckeye" in frontier speech, the mysterious nut was used as a general cure-all for generations.