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Ebenopsis ebano |
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| | The zigzag pattern nicely contrasting light bark with dark leaves |
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| | Early March: it's alive! |
| Synonym(s) |
Pithecellobium flexicaule |
| Common name |
Texas ebony |
| Family |
fabaceae |
| Life cycle |
tree (Z9-10)   |
| Flowers |
cream (spring-fall) |
| Size |
25' |
| Light |
sun |
| Cultural notes |
well drained soil |
Densely crowned deciduous tree, native to arid areas of southern Texas. The small leaflets are dark green, part of twice-pinnate leaves. Branches are spiny, and zig-zag at their nodes. Creamy white blooms appear in late spring through early fall, and are followed by brown seed pods. Reports of cold hardiness vary; most accounts say it shouldn't be hardy in our zone 8b garden, but I drew my inspiration to plant this tree from a nice specimen in Houston's Mercer Botanical Garden, which should have a similar climate to ours. So let's hope we can keep ours alive – so far so good: it lost its leaves after the severe freeze of January 2018, but new growth sprouted by early March. The species grows slowly, so in any case we'll have to wait a long time for it to be even a small shade tree. For most of 2018, our treelet just kind of sat there – not obviously unhappy, but not growing either. Finally in late summer, it put out a flush of fresh green leaves – still not reaching for the sky too much, but hopefully a sign that it has made peace with its new surroundings and is ready for some more action next year.
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| | Mid-September 2018 – a flush of new growth |
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| | No leaf drop in the milder winter of 2019, but leaves were blotched with burgundy in March. I suspect they'll drop to make room for new green ones. |
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| | Early September 2019 – densely covered in new leaves |
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| | A growth spurt finally arrived in 2020, requiring some pruning to avoid injury to passers-by from the sharp spines. |
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| | Nearly killed in megafreeze of February 2021 – just a tiny sprig returning near the base in early April... |
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| | ...turning into bushy growth by early May. But will it ever be a tree again? |
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In our garden, this plant grows in the following area: back fence border About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Ebenopsis ebano
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