Texas ebony is a small evergreen tree native to the coastal plains of southern Texas and eastern Mexico, grown for its dense foliage and fragrant flowers. It thrives in hot, dry conditions and is well suited to xeriscaping.
Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply but infrequently, letting the soil dry out between waterings; established trees need little supplemental water.
Soil
Well-drained sandy or loamy soil; tolerates alkaline and poor soils.
Temperature
20–27 °C typical; hardy to around -5 °C, protect from hard freezes.
How easy
Easy
Native range
SE. Texas to Mexico
Climate
desert or dry shrubland
About
Ebenopsis ebano is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, that is native to the coastal plain of southern Texas in the United States and eastern Mexico. It is commonly known as Texas ebony or ebano (in Spanish).
Where it grows
The range of E. ebano stretches from Laredo and Corpus Christi, Texas south through the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Campeche, and Yucatán in Mexico. It can be found in the Tamaulipan matorral, Tamaulipan mezquital, Veracruz dry forests, and Yucatán dry forests ecoregions. Its habitat extends from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft), averages 20 to 27 °C (68 to 81 °F) in temperature, and receives a mean of 900 mm (35 in) of annual rainfall.
Uses
Texas ebony is cultivated in xeriscaping for its dense foliage and fragrant flowers. It is also used in bonsai.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ebenopsis ebano by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.