sometimes called “tepehuaje” or mimosa, is found on the rich moist soil of river banks and small streams only a few miles from the mouth of the Rio Grande River. It grows 50 to 60 feet high and 18 inches in diameter. The finely divided leaves give the tree the appearance of a huge fern. Seed [pods] are 10 to 12 inches long. The wood is heavy, hard, very close-grained, rich dark brown with a clear yellow [sapwood]. It is considered valuable and is sometimes manufactured into lumber. Two other species, (L. greggii S. Wats.) and (L. retusa Benth.), are found in West Texas but are smaller.
TEXAS SOPHORA (Coral Bean)
(Sophora affinis Torr. and Gray)
also called “bear [berry]”, and pink or beaded locust, is a native to most all of Texas. It occurs as a small sized tree, 18 to 20 feet tall and 8 to 10 inches in diameter. The branches are slightly zigzag, bright green when young turning to orange-brown. The leaves are 6 to 9 inches long, made up of from 13 to 19 [leaflets]. In the fall, it is loaded with clusters of black bean [pods]. The pods are peculiar in shape in that they are pinched in at each seed giving it the appearance of a string of beads. In fact, it is often called the “necklace tree” for that reason. The wood is very hard, light red in color, with a thick bright clear yellow [sapwood].
TEXAS PORLIERIA (Guayacan)
(Porlieria angustifolia [Engelm.] A. Gray)
or soap bush, an evergreen of southern and western Texas, is usually a shrub, but occasionally reaches 8 inches in diameter and 30 feet in height. It is a source of early spring honey in the Rio Grande Valley. Its wood is heavy, hard, and exceptionally durable. Guayacan, sometimes called guaiacum, is the hardest wood in Texas and the United States. The lignum-vitae of commerce is produced from another species.
BARETTA
(Helietta parvifolia [A. Gray] Benth.)
a native of the Rio Grande Valley and abundant in Starr County where it may form considerable thickets, this small, slender evergreen is seldom more than 5 or 6 feet tall. On limestone ridges of the Sierra Madre of Nuevo Leon it reaches 20 to 25 feet high. Its leaves are trifoliate, 1½ to 2 inches long, and conspicuously marked with black [glandular] dots. The branches are brownish-red, but with bright yellow, new growth. The species is not native to any other section of the United States.
TREE OF HEAVEN
(Ailanthus altissima [Mill.] Swingle)
is native to the Orient but has been introduced to this country where it has grown wild and occurs generally throughout Texas. The long, pinnately [compound] leaves, 24 to 48 inches long, with 11 to 41 [leaflets], are [glandular] toothed at the base. The flowers and bruised leaves have a disagreeable odor. The tree is fast growing and spreads by [suckers] as well as by seed.