False buckeye – description, flowering period and general distribution in Texas. The flowers on a branch close-up

False buckeye – description, flowering period and general distribution in Texas. Flowers on a branch begin to bloom simultaneously with the appearance of leaves

False buckeye – description, flowering period and general distribution in Texas. Flowering tree in the park

False buckeye – description, flowering period and general distribution in Texas. Flowering shrub

False buckeye – description, flowering period and general distribution in Texas. Young leaves

False buckeye – description, flowering period and general distribution in Texas. Green leaves close up

False buckeye – description, flowering period and general distribution in Texas. Branch with foliage of different shades of green

Common name:

False buckeye

Scientific name:

Ungnadia speciosa.

Other common name(s):

Mexican buckeye, Texas buckeye, Canyon buckeye, Spanish buckeye, New Mexican buckeye, New Mexico buckeye, False buckeye, Monillo, Monilla.

Life form:

Tree, Shrub.

Flowering time:

10 days.

Flowering period

in Texas for this plant is: March ↔ June.

NECTAR PRODUCTION:
Toxic for bees

SOURCE FOR HONEY BEES:
Minor

General distribution:

Mexican buckeye grows from the Edwards Plateau of south-central Texas west to Trans-Pecos Texas, and into southern New Mexico and northeastern Mexico.

Map of distribution and habitat in USA

This plant is present in at least 2 states/provinces in this country.

See The Map

Botanical description:

Mexican buckeye grows as an upright or spreading, multistemmed shrub or small tree. It commonly reaches 4 to 15 feet (1.2-4.6 m) in height but on favorable sites can grow to 30 feet (9.5 m) with trunk diameters of 10 inches (25.4 cm). The bark is a mottled light gray to brown, with shallow fissures developing on old trunks. Slender brown to orange, pubescent twigs become reddish-brown and glabrous with age. Some roots grow horizontally along the rock or soil surface while others extend deep into the vertical face of soft rock cliffs.

Leaves of Mexican buckeye are deciduous, alternate, and odd-pinnately compound. The three to seven ovate-lanceolate leaflets are leathery with crenate-serrate margins. The upper surface is dark green and glabrous, whereas the lower surface is paler and pubescent to glandular.

Small fragrant flowers are rose to purplish-pink and are borne in clusters on bare stems. The fruit is a woody, reddish-brown, three-lobed pod or capsule 1 to 1.5 inches (2.5-3.8 cm) in diameter. The shiny, dark brown to black, rounded seeds average approximately 0.4 to 0.6 inch (1-1.5 cm) in diameter. Seeds are smooth, leathery and "buckeye lake". Each capsule generally contains a single seed.

Seasonal development:

Mexican buckeye flowers approximately 10 days after buds first appear. In Trans-Pecos Texas, flowering occurs from March to June. Leaves develop soon after the flowers. Fruit ripens in July or as late as August or October. The fruit turns dark brown in the fall and unopened capsules may persist through the winter.

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List of honey plants that may be blooming now in Texas

See the entire list

Ungnadia speciosa (aka: Mexican buckeye, Texas buckeye, Canyon buckeye, Spanish buckeye, New Mexican buckeye, New Mexico buckeye, False buckeye, Monillo, Monilla)

Vaccinium corymbosum (aka: Highbush blueberry, High-bush blueberry, Northern highbush blueberry, Tall blueberry, Rabbiteye blueberry, Blue huckleberry, Tall huckleberry, Swamp huckleberry, High blueberry, Swamp blueberry)

Liriodendron tulipifera (aka: Tuliptree, Blue-poplar, Tulip-poplar, Yellow-poplar, Yellow wood)

Malus ioensis (aka: Bechel crab, Crab apple, Iowa crab, Iowa crab apple, Prairie crab, Prairie crab apple)

Viburnum prunifolium (aka: Blackhaw, Black haw, Blackhaw viburnum, Sweet haw, Stag bush, Smooth Blackhaw Viburnum, Stagbush, Viburnum bushii)

Catalpa speciosa (aka: Northern catalpa, Hardy catalpa, Western catalpa, Cigar tree, Catawba-tree, Bois chavanon)

Ajuga reptans (aka: Bugle, Blue bugle, Bugleherb, Bugleweed, Carpetweed, Carpet bugleweed, Common bugle, St. Lawrence plant)

Astragalus (aka: Milkvetch, Locoweed, Goat's-thorn)

Rhus glabra (aka: Smooth sumac, Common sumac, Rocky Mountain sumac, Red sumac, Western sumac, White sumac)

Sinapis arvensis (aka: Charlock mustard, California rape, Charlock, Corn mustard, Canola, Kaber mustard, Rapeseed mustard)

Gleditsia triacanthos (aka: Honey locust, Honey shucks locust, Common honeylocust, Sweet bean locust)

Asclepias tuberosa (aka: Butterflyweed, Butterfly Milkweed, Orange Milkweed, Pleurisy Root, Chigger Flower, Canada root, Fluxroot, Indian paintbrush, Indian posy, Orange root, Orange Swallow-wort, Tuber root, Yellow milkweed, White-root, Windroot, Butterfly love)

Tilia americana (aka: American basswood, Basswood, Linden)

Amorpha fruticosa (aka: Desert false indigo, False indigo-bush, Bastard indigobush, Indigo Bush)

Asclepias syriaca (aka: Сommon milkweed, Butterfly flower, Silkweed, Silky swallow-wort, Virginia silkweed)

Brassica rapa (aka: Field mustard, Common mustard, Wild mustard, Wild turnip, Forage turnip, Wild rutabaga, Birdsrape mustard, Rape mustard)

Echium vulgare (aka: Viper's bugloss, Blueweed, Blue thistle)

Salsola kali (aka: Russian thistle, Tumbleweed, Prickly saltwort)

Cucumis melo (aka: Cantaloupe, Rockmelon, Sweet melon, Spanspek, Honeydew melon, Honeymelon, Crenshaw, Casaba)

Citrullus lanatus (aka: Watermelon)

Prunus virginiana (aka: Chokecherry, Western chokecherry, Common chokecherry, Black chokecherry)