Native Plants

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Wednesday - April 16, 2014

From: Fort Worth, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Seeds and Seeding, Trees
Title: Mail order source for Guaiacum angustifolium from Ft. Worth TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Do you have a mail order source for the seeds of Guaiacum angustifolium? I have looked extensively and cannot find one. Thank you!

ANSWER:

Go to our webpage on Guaiacum angustifolium (Texas lignum-vitae), and following the link to this USDA Plant Profile Map, you will find that this plant does not grow natively anywhere near Tarrant County TX. In fact, from this map, you will see that it is endemic (grows nowhere else) to Texas. If you follow this plant link, Guaiacum angustifolium (Texas lignum-vitae), to our webpage on this plant, you will see its growing conditions:

"Growing Conditions

Water Use: Low
Light Requirement: Part Shade
Soil Moisture: Dry
Cold Tolerant: yes
Heat Tolerant: yes
Soil Description: Limestone-based, Sandy, Sandy Loam, Medium Loam, Clay Loam, Clay, Caliche type"

From a previous Mr. Smarty Plants answer:

"Guaiacum angustifolium (Texas lignum-vitae) is evergreen with beautiful purple flowers and is a good honeybee tree. It grows 8 to 10 feet. Here is more information from Aggie Horticulture."

That article from Aggie Horticulture has some of the best information we have found, including this sentence:

"Unfortunately, it is rarely available in nurseries."

In the process of trying to find some resources that could help you, we searched on "plant society of Southwest Texas" and found this wonderful website Find Native Plants. Scrolling down that webpage, we found a link to the Uvalde Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. Uvalde is one of the counties shown on the USDA Plant Profile Map listed above as having Guaiacum angustifolium (Texas lignum-vitae) growing there natively. You might try contacting them to see if they can recommend a source for the seeds you are looking for.

From the Image Gallery

Texas lignum-vitae
Guaiacum angustifolium