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Anacua

Tree Description

A medium-sized tree to 50 feet tall and a trunk to 2 feet in diameter, with a dense, round crown of dark green foliage.

Range / Site Description

In Central Texas, south to the Gulf coast and the Rio Grande valley, especially along streams and sandy deposits, but grows well on alkaline soils. Used as a landscape tree from San Antonio to Houston and southward.

Anacua

Leaf

Simple, alternate, 2″ to 4″ long and 1″ to 2″ wide, elliptical or oval in shape, leaf margin without teeth (or with faint teeth along top half), top surface the texture of sandpaper, lower surface pubescent with coarse veins. Leaves are dark green, turning black following a hard frost.

Flower & Fruit

Short clusters of small, white, fragrant owers appear at the tips of branches from late fall to early spring, attracting great numbers of bees.

A round, berry-like drupe, 0.25″ in diameter, yellowish to orange-red in color, eshy, appearing mid-summer or fall. Very messy in high-trac landscape settings.

Interesting Facts

An important component of the evergreen forest remnants along the lower Rio Grande Valley.

Species Summary

Scientific Name:Ehretia anacua
Secondary Names:Anaqua, Knockaway, Sandpaper-Tree
Tree Type:Semi-evergreen
Dimensions:Height: 50 feet
Trunk Diameter: 2 feet
Leaf Structure:Simple, alternate
Leaf Size:2″ to 4″ long and 1″ to 2″ wide,
Leaf Shape:Elliptical or oval in shape
Leaf Margin:Leaf margin without teeth (or with faint teeth along top half)
Additional Information:iNaturalist – Anacua

Source: Texas A&M Forest Service Trees of Texas – Anacua

External Resources:

  • Texas A&M Forest Service – Trees of Texas
  • Texas A&M Forest Service – Texas Tree Planting Guide
  • Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) – Houston Chapter
  • Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension – Native and Adapted Plants for Houston
    (Gardening Fact Sheet)
  • Houston Audubon – Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines

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Texas Master Naturalist Coastal Prairie Chapter

1402 Band Road, Ste 100, Rosenberg,TX 77471
(832) 225-6936

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