EBONY BLACKBEAD (Texas Ebony)
Pithecellobium flexicaule (Benth.) Coult.
This beautiful evergreen occurs as a small tree or shrub in South Texas from Matagorda Bay and south into Mexico. Its short spreading branches, forming a wide, round head, carry stout zigzag brachlets, dark reddish-brown or light gray, armed with [persistent] stipular spines ¼ to ½ inch long.
The LEAVES, about 2 inches long, are feather-like (twice [pinnate]) with [sessile], leathery [leaflets] that are dark green and shiny on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, and ¼ to ⅓ inch long.
EBONY BLACKBEAD (Leaf and [fruit], two-thirds natural size)
The FLOWERS are light yellow or cream colored, fragrant, and [bloom] from June to August in dense cylindric or interrupted spikes 1½ inches long.
The [FRUIT] ripens in the fall and remains on the branches until after the flowering season the following year. It is a flattened, curved, hairy [pod], 4 to 6 inches long, and about 1 inch wide.
The WOOD is very heavy, hard, close-grained, dark red-brown tinged with purple, almost indestructible when used for fence posts, and valued for cabinet work.
The tree is considered the most valuable species in the lower Rio Grande Valley. Mexicans use the seed as a substitute for coffee.