Texas Ebony Tree - Ebenopsis Ebano

May be one of the most underrated trees native to the United States. Not only is it a beautiful ornamental tree (see photo in comments), it’s a nitrogen fixer and the lumber from mature trees is very valuable.

This tree has distinctive white bark, off white sap wood, and dark brown heart wood, which is very dense. The round flat leaves grow from twisted branches and when the tree is young, it has some thorns that give it protection.

It’s native habitat is the desert, so it’s wicked drought tolerant once established, but it adapts well here in Florida.

What is a nitrogen fixer? In basic terms, these plants take unusable nitrogen out of the environment and convert it into usable nitrogen. Often this is a relationship with beneficial bacteria around the roots. So if you plant this tree around other plants that have high nitrogen requirements, you’ll probably need to fertilize less.

Texas Ebony is easy to grow from seed! However, you’ll need to use sandpaper to get the process started. Sand each seed around the whole “edge” in order to get through a layer that prevents germination. After you sand the seeds, place them in a cup of water. You’ll know you did it right when a jelly like substance appears on the seeds. This happens within a few days and a few days after that the seed will begin to split.

At this point, you can sow the seeds about a half inch deep and you’re off to the races.

For those of you who are interested in capitalizing on your love of plants listen up. These trees are valuable every step of the way.

Seeds can sell for $.10 cents each, seedlings sell for $20-$30 each, 4-6ft trees can sell for $120 in a 15gal pot, and big mature trees are often worth around $1,000.

The lumber, from old trees that are properly pruned, is worth more than $50 per board foot (board foot is a measure of volume: 12in x 12in x 1in) which is more expensive than most trees native to the United States.

Now this is where my knowledge ends. I would love some insight on how to care for this tree properly as it grows. I first bought seedlings from two different nurseries (see photos) and they do not seem as healthy as the ones I started from seed. One of these seedlings came out relatively weak and growing in multiple directions rather than straight up.

I hope someone found this helpful. Happy gardening!

Tony