Ebenopsis ebano

Ebenopsis ebano is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae,[1] that is native to the coastal plain of southern Texas in the United States and eastern Mexico.[2] It is commonly known as Texas ebony or ebano (in Spanish).[1]

Ebenopsis ebano
Fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Rosids
Order:
Fabales
Family:
Fabaceae
Genus:
Ebenopsis
Species:
E. ebano
Binomial name
Ebenopsis ebano
(Berland.) Barneby & J.W.Grimes
Natural range
Synonyms

Acacia flexicaulis Benth.
Chloroleucon ebano (Berland.) L.Rico
Mimosa ebano Berland.
Pithecellobium ebano (Berland.) C.H.Müll.
Pithecellobium flexicaule (Benth.) J.M.Coult.
Zygia flexicaulis (Benth.) Sudw.[1]

Description

Texas ebony is a small, evergreen tree that reaches a height of 7.6–9.1 m (25–30 ft) and a crown width of 1.8–4.6 m (5.9–15.1 ft).[3]

Texas ebony (Ebenopsis ebano)

Habitat and range

The range of E. ebano stretches from Laredo and Corpus Christi, Texas[4] south through the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Campeche, and Yucatán in Mexico.[5] It can be found in the Tamaulipan matorral,[6] Tamaulipan mezquital,[7] Veracruz dry forests, and Yucatán dry forests ecoregions.[8] Its habitat extends from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft), averages 20 to 27 °C (68 to 81 °F) in temperature, and receives a mean of 900 mm (35 in) of annual rainfall.[5]

Uses

Texas ebony is cultivated in xeriscaping for its dense foliage and fragrant flowers.[9] It is also used in bonsai.[10]

Ecology

E. ebano is a host plant for the caterpillars of the coyote cloudywing (Achalarus toxeus)[11] and Sphingicampa blanchardi.[12] The seedpods host the bean weevils Stator beali and S. limbatus. Despite the native range of Texas ebony overlapping with that of the latter, S. limbatus only feeds upon it in locales where it is grown as an ornamental and is not native.[13] E. ebano is also a preferred host of the epiphyte Bailey's ball moss (Tillandsia baileyi).[14]

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References
  1. "Ebenopsis ebano". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2009-11-25.
  2. "Ebenopsis ebano (Texas Ebony)". Native Plant Database. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  3. Irish, Mary (2008). Trees and Shrubs for the Southwest: Woody Plants for Arid Gardens. Timber Press. pp. 178–179. ISBN 978-0-88192-905-8.
  4. "Ebenopsis ebano (Berl.) Barneby & Grimes Texas ebony". The PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2010-11-25.
  5. "Ebenopsis ebano (Berl.) Britton et Rose" (PDF). Reforestación: Fichas Técnicas (in Spanish). CONAFOR. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  6. García Pérez, Jaime F.; Óscar Aguirre Calderón; Eduardo Estrada Castillón; Joel Flores Rivas; Javier Jiménez Pérez; Enrique Jurado Ybarra (2007). "Germinación y establecimiento de plantas nativas del matorral tamaulipeco y una especie introducida en un gradiente de elevación" (PDF). Madera y Bosques (in Spanish). 13 (1): 99–117. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-04-15. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  7. Lentz, David Lewis (2000). Imperfect Balance: Landscape Transformations in the Precolumbian Americas. Columbia University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-231-11157-7.
  8. Beletsky, Les (2006). Southern Mexico: the Cancún Region, Yucatán Peninsula, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Tabasco. Interlink Books. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-56656-640-7.
  9. Miller, George Oxford (2007-03-15). Landscaping with Native Plants of the Southwest. MBI Publishing Company. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-7603-2968-9.
  10. Mahler, Robert; Julian Velasco (2008). Pat Lucke Morris; Sigrun Wolff Saphire (eds.). Growing Bonsai Indoors. Brooklyn Botanic Garden. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-1-889538-42-6.
  11. "Coyote Cloudywing Achalarus toxeus (Plötz, 1882)". Butterflies and Moths of North America. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
  12. "Sphingicampa blanchardi". Butterflies and Moths of North America. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  13. Fox, Charles W. (2006). "Colonization of a new host by a seed-feeding beetle: Genetic variation, maternal experience, and the effect of an alternate host" (PDF). Annales Zoologici Fennici. 43: 239–247.
  14. Sill, Sue (May 2009). "Tillandsia baileyi rose - Texas's Disappearing Native Air-Plant" (PDF). The Sabal. Native Plant Project. 26 (5): 1–5.
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