Texas Madrone

Another interesting species of my trip south was the Texas madrone tree, Arbutus xalapensis. The state name is accurate in this case, as I saw this tree in McKittrick Canyon of Guadalupe Mountains National Park just across the New Mexican border into Texas.  I had never heard of this tree before, but was immediately taken with its twisty branches of reddish wood.

The Texas Native Plants Database lists several colloquial names for the Texas madrone, including "Naked Indian, Lady's Leg, Texas Arbutus and Madrono." Wildflower.org further explains: "The local names, Naked Indian and Lady's Leg, refer to the smooth, pinkish to reddish-brown bark. The species name, xalapensis, refers to the city of Jalapa/Xalapa in the east Mexican state of Veracruz." TNPD explains that "When the older layers slough off, the newer bark is smooth and can range from white to orange through shades of apricot to dark red."

According to the U.S. Forest Service, "Texas madrone is listed as an endangered species by the Texas Organization for Endangered Species...seedlings are particularly rare wherever livestock are present, presumably because of the combined effects of browsing and trampling."  These trees are also quite susceptible to insect infestation and very difficult to propagate.  In the U.S., this species is only found in extreme southeastern New Mexico and west Texas, and, as a slow growing tree, it is very sensitive to environmental changes.

I was lucky enough to see one of the trees blooming, sporting clusters of small, white flowers.   Unfortunately, though, the only tree with flowers that I came across was too tall for me to get a close-up look!

In the following picture, both the pinkish-red bark and the sturdy evergreen leaves can be noted.

Another madron tree in the canyon still had berries left, although these, too, were higher than I could closely examine.  The red berries are supposed to be edible to more than just the birds, as the blog aneyefortexas.wordpress.com posts:  "These lovely berries give the tree it’s first scientific name, “Arbutus,” which is a Latin word meaning “Strawberry Tree.” The name Madrone comes from the Spanish word madroño which means the same thing."