Texas Mountain Laurel
Island to Get More Texas Mountain Laurels
Spring has finally arrived in Galveston. Leaves are sprouting on winter-barren trees. Blooms are appearing. One special gorgeous bloomer with bees buzzing all over it is the Texas Mountain Laurel, Sophora secundiflora (and AKA Mescal Bean). There are only a few of these visible on the Island right now. After the Neighborwoods plantings on March 29 (170 trees in total) there will be a few more streetside Mountain Laurels thanks to the choices made by residents in participating neighborhoods of Gulf Village, Wimcrest, Teichman Point, and Jamaica Beach.
The Texas Mountain Laurel is a beautiful small tree. Drive by 4909 Houston to see one in full bloom. There’s another in the 3100 alley between O½ and P that is just beginning to blossom out, and another on the south side of the 2900 block of Avenue O. Get up close and smell the sweet-scented flowers, but do watch out for the bees.
The tough native does well here, although its favorite habitat is limestone soils in Central and Southwest Texas, and into New Mexico and Mexico. This slow growing evergreen may be trained to a single or multi-trunk tree or grown as a medium to large shrub. It can range from just a few feet tall to more than 30 ft. in height under ideal conditions, though its usual height at maturity is 10-15 ft.
The handsome and dense, dark green leaves with their lustrous, leathery upper surface provide yearlong beauty and are accompanied each spring by abundant wisteria-like flowers, in showy and fragrant drooping clusters.
Blooms are followed by black seedpods that contain brilliant, lacquer red to red-orange seeds which are sometimes used in jewelry. They were of great value to Native Americans in Texas for ornament and ceremonial use, and according to one report a strand of seeds could be traded for a horse. However, both seeds and flowers are poisonous to humans and contain narcotic properties. Yellow dye was once made from the sapwood.
This tree is tough, extremely drought tolerant, disease free, and is an outstanding ornamental. Its small size makes it perfect for a small garden area. Studies show that it may require less than half the amount of water of a Crape Myrtle tree, making it an ideal plant for our frequent dry conditions. It also enjoys high heat tolerance. Good drainage is a must and it will not survive with wet feet. It also needs a good supply of sunlight for best growth.
Texas Mountain Laurel is difficult to successfully transplant from the wild so fortunately it is being produced by a number of growers and is fairly available. The caretaker of the tree on Houston Street planted it herself 20 years ago and emphasizes that it is a slow grower. However, it survived the waters of Hurricane Ike that inundated that neighborhood, proving its tenacity.
Here’s to the success of the new Neighborwoods plantings. May they live long and bloom heartily and may we see more next year.
Hurricane Ike caused the loss of 40,000 trees on Galveston Island. The Galveston Island Tree Conservancy was formed to address that loss and to date has replaced almost 13,000 through grant-funded plantings and giveaways, with more planned. “Tree Stories” is an ongoing series of articles intended to bring attention to outstanding Island trees, tree care, and tree issues. If you have or know of a special tree on Galveston Island that should be highlighted, please email treesforgalveston@yahoo.com. Margaret Canavan is a Galveston resident, a Galveston County Master Gardener, and a member of the Conservancy Board.
