Mexican buckeye
Ungnadia speciosa
USDA zones7 to 9
SunHandles full sun to partial shade
WaterNeeds dry soil
Size8 to 30 feet tall12 to 20 feet wide
- Habit
- Tree
- Bloom season
- Spring, summer, autumn
- Bloom color
- Pink
- Soil types
- Sand, loam, clay
- Soil pH
- Alkaline, neutral
Garden uses
Attracts
Notes
Mexican buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa) is a shrub for borders, specimen planting, and low maintenance gardens. It is hardy to USDA zone 7, or down to 0°F (-18°C). This plant likes full sun to part shade and dry, sandy, loamy, or clay soil. Fragrant pink flowers open in spring and attract bees and butterflies, and the leaves turn golden yellow in fall. The seeds are poisonous, so plant it away from children. Deer rarely make it their first choice.
Pairs well with Western redbud, Shenandoah switchgrass, and American smoketree.
Native range
NM and TX.