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.
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