The Texas Mountain Laurel ( Dermatophyllum secundiflorum ) , also known as the mescal bean , is a beautiful evergreen shrub or small tree diagram that is aboriginal to central Texas , Benjamin West to New Mexico , and south to cardinal Mexico . It grows 10 to 15 ft grandiloquent with a canopy banquet of 8 to 10 feet . It ’s a dim agriculturist and typically maintains a strong shrub growth drug abuse , seldom take on tree form in nature . In cultivation it can be trained as a multi - trunked small tree or kept as a shrub .

Texas mountain laurel is a completely unlike mintage and in a different genus from mountain laurel wreath . Almost everything about this Southwest native is very different from the easterly mountain laurel wreath , include its size , form and blossom color .

The Texas Mountain Laurel has glossy , dark green compound foliage that are draw up of leathery leaflets . The leaves remain on the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree class - around . It also has majestic , wisteria - like flowers that bloom in the spring . The aroma from these blooms is quite pleasant and is very similar to the olfaction of the stilted grapevine flavoring chance in drinks and gums .

After the efflorescence slicing , the Texas Mountain Laurel grow brown , leathery seed pods . The seed seedcase hold brilliant red seeds that are poisonous if ingested . However , the seeds are hard and difficult to crack , so poisoning is not a usual problem .

Historically , the Texas Mountain Laurel has been used by aboriginal American tribes for various purposes . The Mescalero Apache , for case , used the germ of the Texas Mountain Laurel , along with other ingredients , to make a potent hallucinogenic drink . The seeds were also used in jewelry and for trade .

In terms of its botanical story , the Texas Mountain Laurel was first described by Spanish phytologist José Antonio Pavón y Jiménez in the late eighteenth 100 and classified asSophora secundiflora . It was later transmit to the genus Dermatophyllum by American botanist Asa Gray in the mid-19th century . late Texas Mountain Laurel ’s scientific name was recently changed toDermatophyllum secundiflorumby [ University of Arizona Campus Arboretum ] .

The Texas Mountain Laurel is a relatively low - maintenance works that is drouth - liberal once establish . It prefer well - drained soil and full Dominicus . With proper fear , the Texas Mountain Laurel can be a beautiful and long - lasting plus to your landscape . Tt ’s hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture works hardiness zona 8 through 11 .

How to Grow and Care for Texas Mountain Laurel

plant from Seeds

How to Prune

do maintenance pruning when the bush is abeyant , either in wintertime or in summer ’s heat . flush buds develop on the ends of branches during August , remain dormant through the winter . Pruning after August decreases the spring bloom . Perform light hedgerow cut back in April or May . As plant get heavy after 15 days , decide if you want to allow them to grow to their full height or if you want to keep them shorter to advertize bushiness and to keep blooms nearer for well watch .

When plants are vernal , do n’t prune them at all . Texas mountain bay wreath grows slowly during the first five to 10 years of life . Allow the plants to attain some size of it before form them . Do n’t remove more than one - third of the growing at a time . First hit stagnant or discredited offset . Then face for branches with spindly development , narrow crotches or crossing branches . Take branches back to the item where they join the next larger radical . You do n’t need to use pruning paint . Prune hedgerow plant minimally , softly head back individual branches to keep plants to want size .

To develop small tree , choose one to three primary branches as the main trunks and remove the lower branches from them . Cut away any small trunk at ground grade . Watch for and slay any fall guy as the plant continue grow . As the tree grows , you’re able to step by step raise the canopy height by removing other lower branches . utilise caution because these elderly industrial plant are valuable specimen and might not recuperate from overpruning . Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree - like height is usually make after 20 age or more . Really old specimen can hand 50 feet tall .

variety of Texas Mountain Laurel

The Texas Mountain Laurel ( Dermatophyllum secundiflorum ) is a single specie within the genus Dermatophyllum . However , there are several cultivar of Texas Mountain Laurel that have been developed for their unique characteristic .

Common ProblemsTexas Mountain Laurel