Forest Trees of Texas: How to Know Them

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.

CHINABERRY
(Melia azedarach L.)

although a native of Asia, is so widely grown in Texas as an ornamental that it can be seen almost anywhere. It is a member of the mahogany family. The bark is furrowed, with the ridges flat-topped. The alternate leaves are twice-compound and 10 to 32 inches long. The leaflets are alternate, ovate to elliptic, sharply toothed or lobed, ¾ to 2 inches long, light green and usually smooth. The flowers are showy, lilac-colored, fragrant, nearly an inch across, and arranged in loose clusters which appear in April. The fruit is nearly round, ½ to ¾ inch in diameter, fleshy, and yellow when mature. The wood is moderately heavy and moderately hard, light reddish-brown in color, with a rather narrow, yellowish sapwood. Formerly it was much used for cabinet-work.

AMERICAN SMOKETREE (Chittamwood)
(Cotinus obovatus Raf.)

a member of the sumac family, it grows along the Medina and Guadalupe Rivers and in Kendall County, Texas. Occasionally it reaches a height of 30 feet and 12 inches in diameter, but usually grows as a shrub or small tree, its trunk dividing into several stems 10 feet or so above the ground. The wood is bright, clear, rich orange color, and yields the same color dye. Sometimes it is used for fence posts. C. coggygria, the smoketree of gardens, is cultivated in the United States.

TEXAS PISTACHE
(Pistacia texana Swingle)

a less common member of the sumac family, is found native on limestone cliffs and the rocky bottoms of canyons along the lower Pecos River in Valverde County, Texas. It reaches a height of 15 to 20 feet and produces a fruit resembling the pistachio nut of commerce, except that it is smaller in size.

EASTERN WAHOO
(Euonymus atropurpureus Jacq.)

also called arrow-wood and burning bush in some localities is a small tree rarely over 20 feet high and 4 to 6 inches in diameter. The bark is thin and covered with thin, tiny scales. The wood is heavy, hard, white, tinged with orange. The leaves are opposite, thin, and finely serrate. In the fall and winter the tree is characterized by bright red berries in lighter red, 4-lobed capsules. It is a native of East Texas.

FLORIDA MAPLE (Southern Sugar Maple)
(Acer barbatum Michx.)

grows in East Texas and resembles the sugar maple (A. saccharum Marsh.) with which it blends in Northeast Texas, except that the tips of the leaves of A. barbatum Michx. are more rounded and the young leaves are hairy on the underside when they first unfold.

BIGTOOTH MAPLE
(Acer grandidentatum Nutt.)

a maple native to the mountains and canyons of the Trans-Pecos Region of Texas, grows to 30 and 40 feet high and occasionally 8 to 10 inches in diameter. Its bright red branchlets are nearly encircled by the narrow leaf-scars. Leaf lobes few toothed or nearly entire. When accessible, the wood is valuable for fuel and building material.

UVALDE BIGTOOTH MAPLE (Sugar or Mountain Maple)
(Acer grandidentatum var. sinuosum [Rend.] Little)

resembles the above two maples but is confined to the Balcones Escarpment in western Texas along creek bottoms in parts of Kendall, Bandera, and Uvalde Counties. It is a rare tree, seldom more than 20 feet high. Branchlets pale red-brown and marked by pale lenticels during their first season, ultimately turning dull gray-brown.

FLORIDA BASSWOOD
(Tilia floridana Small)

grows from East Texas to the Edwards Plateau. The leaves are coarsely serrate with sharp-pointed tips, dark green and glaucous above, and pale or covered with a silvery-white bloom and often axillary hairs below. The tree may reach 40 to 50 feet high and 12 to 15 inches in diameter.

CAROLINA BASSWOOD
(Tilia caroliniana Mill.)

located in East Texas to the Edwards Plateau, Kendall County. Underside of the ovate leaves covered with soft, short, brownish-white hairs; smooth on upper surface and coarse-veined. Leaves usually obliquely truncate at the base.

TAMARISK
(Tamarix species)

all of the many species of Tamarix are native to the Mediterranean Region or to East Asia and India. However, three of them (T. araiculata Vahl, T. gallica L., and T. pentandra Pall.), are widely planted in the South. All are shrubby in nature, or they may attain the stature of small trees. When of tree size, the trunk normally is short, with main branches quite close to the ground. This gives rise to a wide-spreading bushy crown. The leaves are sparse, delicate, evergreen, alternate, simple, small, scale-like, pale green to dull or bluish-green, ovate or rhombic, sharp pointed, sometimes with thin, dry margins, and without petioles. The foliage presents a leathery appearance. The wood is hard, heavy, white to light straw colored, shows a prominent mottled wavy pattern when quarter-sawn, and takes a high polish.

BUCKTHORN BUMELIA (Buckthorn)
(Bumelia lycioides [L.] Pers.)

also called ironwood, is found along the Southeast Coastal Region of Texas. In contrast to B. lanuginosa, the leaves are smooth instead of hairy on the underside. They are also thin. Sometimes grows 25 to 30 feet in height with a short trunk rarely more than 6 inches in diameter. It has stout, flexible branches, usually unarmed.

TEXAS BUMELIA
(Bumelia lanuginosa var. rigida A. Gray)

occurs in Texas from the upper Brazos River to the Rio Grande and upper Guadalupe River. It has thick, leathery-like leaves smooth on the underside. The lateral branches are spiny and occasionally end in stout pines; branchlets slender, often zigzag, and lustrous. The fresh-cut wood of the bumelias in Texas usually produces considerable quantities of clear viscid gum. Mexicans have given some species of this small tree the name “chickle” for that reason.

TEXAS PERSIMMON (Black Persimmon)
(Diospyros texana Scheele)

also called Mexican persimmon, is native to southern and southwestern Texas, from the Colorado River. It is characterized by 1 to 2 inch leaves and small edible black fruits, about ¾ inch in diameter. They will stain the skin black. Mexicans make a hair dye from the ripe fruit, which has given the plant the local name of “capote”. The wood is heavy with a black heartwood often streaked with yellow, and with a bright yellow sapwood. The wood is used in turnery and for the handles of tools.

TEXAS ASH
(Fraxinus texensis [A. Gray] Sarg.)

a small tree, rarely more than 50 feet high, of the dry limestone bluffs and ridges of the Dallas area to the valley of the Colorado River and the Edwards Plateau. Leaves 5 to 8 inches long with usually five, long-stalked leaflets. Fruit in short, compact clusters.

BERLANDIER ASH (Mexican Ash)
(Fraxinus berlandieriana A. DC.)

grows along the banks of streams and canyons in the San Antonio and Neuces River watersheds and over the Edwards Plateau. It is rarely more than 30 feet tall. The three to five leaflets are smooth. The wood is light brown and soft.

ANACAHUITA (Texas Wild-Olive)
(Cordia boisseri A. DC.)

occurs along the lower Rio Grande Valley, is said to be almost extinct. It is a small tree, sometimes 20 feet tall and 6 to 8 inches in diameter, noted for its large velvety leaves (4 to 5 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide), clusters of yellow and white flowers and delicate ivory-white coated fruit. The bark is thin, gray, tinged with red.

ANAQUA
(Ehretia anacua [Mier and Berland.] Johnst.)

also called knackaway, anama, and yara, occurs in West Texas from the upper San Marcos River to the Rio Grande River. It is a tree of the tropics and of about 40 species in its family, is the only one found in the United States, and here only in Texas. It is valued as a shade tree in some communities of South Texas and is noted for its growth and beauty. Occasionally it grows to a height of 40 to 50 feet with a trunk 3 feet in diameter, attaining its largest size on the Guadalupe and Nueces Rivers. Anaqua has slender branchlets, without terminal buds, and leathery, very rough leaves which are almost evergreen. It blooms with white flowers in March and April and has large groups of edible red berries in June and July. The wood is heavy, close-grained, light brown and of little value.

TEXAS MADRONE
(Arbutus texana Buckl.)

also called Texas Madroño is a small poorly shaped tree found on dry limestone hills, and in the valley of the Rio Blanco, and among the Eagle Mountains. The trunk is seldom over one foot in diameter and is usually divided into several branches near the ground. The leaves are oval to oblong and persistent until the new leaves are formed. The bark of young stems and branches is smooth, thin, and yellowish-green in color tinged with red. At the base of old trunks the bark, sometimes ¼ inch thick, is dark reddish-brown in color.

AUSTRIAN PINE
(Pinus nigra Arnold)

is similar in appearance to red pine (P. resinosa Ait.) but needles are more rigid. Bark is black to dark brown and the cones are 1½ to 2 inches long. The tree is a native of central and southern Europe and Asia Minor. It has been planted extensively in the U. S. as an ornamental but is apparently not yet naturalized. It is planted in Texas in windbreak plantings.

RUSSIAN-OLIVE
(Elaeagnus angustifolia L.)

is a small tree, not more than 25 feet tall, usually with thorny branches. Leaves are simple, alternate, narrow and 2 to 3 inches long, bright green on the upper surface and silvery underneath. It is a native of Europe and Asia and is used as an ornamental and in windbreak plantings in the United States.

BUFFALOBERRY (Silver Buffaloberry)
(Shepherdia argentea [Pursh] Nutt.)

is a small silver gray-green tree with edible scarlet colored fruit which is useful for making jelly, which may reach 18 to 23 feet in height. It generally has narrow oblong leaves ¾ to 2 inches long and twigs are often thorny. Its native range is from the northern Great Plains to Kansas. Useful for windbreak plantings and erosion control.

SIBERIAN ELM (Chinese Elm)
(Ulmus pumila L.)

is more commonly known in the Plains area as Chinese elm. It is drought-resistant and tolerant of a variety of sites but cannot stand too much water. A small tree with slender drooping branches. Clusters of short pedicelled winged fruit appear in April or May. The leaves are simple, alternate, oval to elliptical, 1 to 2 inches long and leaf edges are doubly serrate. Widely used for shade and windbreak plantings.

WINTERBERRY EUONYMUS
(Euonymus bungeanus Maxim.)

was introduced from China and has adapted well to the southern Great Plains area centered around the Texas Panhandle. The small tree is very hardy and drought-resistant. Its very light green leaves are 2 to 4 inches long, pointed and borne on slender petioles. The heavy leaves cause the petioles to bend giving the foliage a limp or drooping appearance. Young stems and branches are green, older ones are gray. The fruit is a four-lobed capsule which, before ripening in the fall, has a pinkish cast. The ripened seeds are bright red.

Tree Identification Guide

The following guide has been included in the Eighth edition to assist school children and interested adults in the identification of Texas trees.

The guide is non-technical and should be treated as such. More detailed keys are available in most public libraries.

In the guide, trees are grouped according to their outstanding characteristics which include leaves, leaf arrangement, flowers, fruit and site.

THE SOFTWOODS

Note: Not included above but commonly found in the longleaf pine range is a cross between loblolly and longleaf pine. This hybrid tree has characteristics of both parents.

THE HARDWOODS

TREES WITH SIMPLE LEAVES

Fruits: Page

Drupe (or berry)

Dogwood 107

Fringetree 117

Pod

Catalpa 118

Desertwillow 119

Multiple Fruit

Buttonbush 120

Fruits: Page

Pod

Corkwood 35

Pawpaw 72

Redbud 88

Acorn

White oaks 48-50, 52-59

Drupe (or berry)

Hackberry 66

Redbay 73

Sassafras 74

Blackgum 105

Farkleberry 108

Gum Elastic 109

Southern Buckthorn 109, 127

Persimmon 110, 127

Privet Swamp 116

Multiple Fruit

Bios-d’arc 69

Magnolia 70

Sweetbay 71

Witch-hazel 77

Sycamore 77

Winged

Silverbell 112

Fruits: Page

Winged

Silver Maple 98

Red Maple 99

Southern Sugar Maple 126

Sugar Maple 126

Big Tooth Maple 126

Mountain Maple 126

Pod

Desertwillow 119

Wahoo 125

Drupe (or berry)

Blackhaw 121

Fruits: Page

Drupe (or berry)

Hawthorn 78

Mayhaw 79

Mexican Plum 80

Black Sloe 81

Black Cherry 82

Laurelcherry 83

Holly 96

Yaupon 97

Basswood 103, 126

Tupelo Gum 106

Sweetleaf 111

Sweet Myrtle 123

Anaqua 128

Winged

The Elms 61-64

Multiple Fruit

Cottonwood 36, 123

Black Willow 37

Red Mulberry 68

Sweetgum 76

Alder (cone-like) 123

Nut

Blue Beech (nut-like) 38

Ironwood (cone-like) 39

River Birch (cone-like) 40

American Beech 41

Chinkapin 42

Planer Tree 65

Acorns

Red Oaks 43-47

White Oaks 51, 60

TREES WITH COMPOUND LEAVES

Fruits: Page

Winged

Baretta 124

Fruits: Page

Pod

Mesquite 87

Black Locust 91

Coral Bean 124

Guajillo 123

Multiple Fruit

Flameleaf Sumac (large headed) 94

Guayacan (capsule) 124

Drupe (or berry)

Poison-Sumac 95

Wild China-tree 102

Tree of Heaven 125

Chinaberry 125

Smoke Tree 125

Pistache 125

Fruits: Page

Winged

Boxelder 100

Water Ash 113

White Ash 114

Green Ash 115

Mexican Ash 128

Fruits: Page

Nut

The Walnuts 28

The Hickories 29-34

Ohio Buckeye 101

Drupe (or berry)

Devils-Walkingstick (capsule-like) 92

Pod

Waterlocust 90

Winged

Hoptree 93

TREES WITH DOUBLY-COMPOUND LEAVES

Fruits: Page

Pod

Texas Ebony 84

Catclaw Acacia 85

Leadtree (Mimosa) 86, 124

Honeylocust 89

Huisache (Sweet Acacia) 123