Buckeye, Mexican
- Botanical Name: Ungnadia speciosa
- Plant Type: Ornamental Tree
- Light Requirement: Full Sun, Partial Shade
- Water Demand: Low
- Landscape Use: Focal Point/Specimen Plant, Screen - Physical (e.g., barriers)
- Ornamental Color: Pink
- Native or Adapted: Native
- Wildlife Value: Hummingbirds, Birds, Butterflies
- Season: Spring
- Deciduous or Evergreen: Deciduous
- Plant Form: Bushy
- Region: North Central Texas
- Plant Spread: 6' - 15'
- Plant Height: 15' - 25'
Description
A tree for all seasons. Small showy tree or shrub with fragrant pink-purple flowers in early spring. Dark green, lustrous leaves that turn golden yellow in the fall. Dark brown seed pods hang throughout the winter. Seeds are poisonous.
Mexican buckeyes grow naturally in North Central Texas. They have pinkish purple flowers that bloom in the spring and a yellow fall color. Their leaves are compound, somewhat like a pecan's but smaller. Mexican buckeyes are generally multi-stemmed, forming a cluster of skinny trunks. They grow in practically any soil, grow in sun or shade, and are very drought tolerant. They also have great flowers and interesting (but poisonous) triseeded pods that hang on the branches in the winter.