Plant of the month: Texas ebony

The tree is evergreen, and has small rounded leaves of a deep lush green color. It also has considerable thorns, so it should only be placed in an area where they won’t snag or injure people and pets. The branches are a grayish color and have nice form.

The tree’s flowers are creamy yellow, fragrant little bottlebrushes, and attract bees and other pollinators. After flowering, the tree produces large bean pods which can be up to 12 inches long and are very dark, rich brown in color. The pod seeds are edible. It’s hardy to 15 F, and likes to be planted in full sun. It is tolerant of reflected heat and poor soil. The plant is a nitrogen fixer, so smaller plants can be planted underneath it to benefit from the extra nitrogen in the soil.

The Texas ebony’s natural growth habit is shrubby, with branches close to the ground. It will require careful, selective pruning during its youth to trim it into a tree shape with a central main trunk. This needs to be done over the course of a few years. The trunk will get sunburned and the tree will grow unruly if too much pruning is done all at once. It should never be sheared, as this will cause it to grow into a twisted, tangled mass which will be very difficult to fix.

As with many other plants, choose your planting site carefully. This tree will eventually grow large, so plan for a spot that leaves plenty of room. As mentioned, it's very thorny, so it won't be a good tree for traffic areas. It also sheds those large bean pods, so keep that in mind.

The Texas ebony is so named because its heartwood is very dense, with a deep red-brown color with purple tones, and is reportedly great for creating lovely woodworking pieces.