By Susan Smith

Each week hundreds of people call or visit the San Marcos Public Library to find information. "Answers•To•Go" highlights recently received questions. Please visit the library at 625 East Hopkins, call 393-8200 for information over the phone, or e-mail us through our web-page at www.ci.san-marcos.tx.us/library.htm.

Q. We had family visiting from Ohio over Thanksgiving. We showed them the sights including a trip to Enchanted Rock. We found a buckeye on a picnic table. Are there buckeye trees in Texas?

A. I wouldn’t put it past an Ohio State football fan to leave a trail of buckeyes as they travel, but there are buckeye trees in many areas of Texas.

Our Texas tree books are popular with gardeners, hikers and schoolchildren working on their leaf identification projects. If your child has that assignment, be sure to come in. We’ve bought lots of those books because it’s important that children have what they need for their homework.

This is also a good time of year to plant native trees. You can find books on that subject with these keyword searches in our library catalog: Texas trees, Texas gardening, or Texas landscape.

To return to your question, let’s refer to “A Field Guide to Texas Trees” by Benny J. Simpson. Simpson writes, “The buckeyes in Texas are generally small trees (although the Texas Buckeye sometimes approaches 50 feet in height) or quite large shrubs.

“They are easily distinguished by their palmate compound leaves and the large, shiny, tan to brown seed that resembles the eye of a deer and gives the genus its common name.

“All parts of the plant are probably poisonous, so the tree is usually shunned by wildlife although at least one account has been documented of deaths of bees that had been working buckeye flowers. Cattle losses occur in drought years when the young buds of Texas Buckeye are the only green forage.”

Simpson includes maps showing the range of the different buckeyes found here. The Texas (or White) Buckeye is found in the counties around Enchanted Rock.

Simpson’s maps don’t show the Texas Buckeye in Hays County, but he reports that we do have the Red Buckeye which bears showy bright red flowers in early to late spring and grows to up to 30 feet in height.

Q. I missed the showings of the new film on Jack Hays. Does the library have a copy?

A. Of course, we have “Captain Jack: The Story of John Coffee Hays.” In fact, we have five copies of this DVD. We’d be happy to place one at the check-out desk so you can speed in and out at this busy time of year.

On the other hand, some library lovers see the library as one place where it’s nice to slow down and relax. The lounge chairs are comfortable; you can spread out at a table and address holiday cards if you like; and it’s fine to have a quiet conversation with a friend here.

Speaking of the holidays, you might want to consider this DVD as a gift for history lovers in your family. The Hays County Historical Commission sells copies for $10.00 plus shipping. Details can be found at www.hayshistoricalcommission.com/store.

For those interested in more details on John Coffee Hays, we have biographies for both children and adults. The children’s book is Curtis Bishop’s “The First Texas Ranger, Jack Hays.” For adults, we have “Colonel Jack Hays: Texas Frontier Leader and California Builder” and “Texas Ranger: Jack Hays in the Frontier Southwest” by James Kimmins Greer.