West Texas Trees - City of Las Cruces

West Texas Trees
John M. White
Garden Curator
UTEP Chihuahuan Desert Gardens
Trans-Pecos Vegetation
 Elevation - 1000 - 8700 feet
 Chihuahuan Desert Scrub - lowest elevation
 Grasslands - 3500-5200
 Oak/Juniper/Pinyon woodlands - 5500-7500
 Conifer Forest - Highest elevations
 Riparian Communities - Rio Grande/Pecos
Trans-Pecos Quick Facts*
 Roughly 32,000 square miles
 About the size of the state of Maine
 Chihuahuan Desert is largest in NA
 1/3 of the desert is in the USA
 Approximately 450 woody species
 21 species of oaks
* Source Trees and Shrubs of the TransPecos and adjacent areas, Michael A. Powell
Riparian Areas
Willows, cottonwoods, acacia, mesquite and ash.
Rio Grand Cottonwood,
Populus deltoides var
wislizeni
Goodding willow, Salix gooddingii
Screwbean mesquite, Prosopis pubescens
Sweet acacia, Acacia smallii
Desert Scrub
Arroyos & Canyons
Mesquite, soapberry, palo verde, mountain laurel,
Mexican buckeye, mountain mulberry, desert willow,
canyon hackberry.
Whitethorn acacia
Acacia constricta
Catclaw mimosa, Mimosa biuncifera
“Wait a minute” Bush
Vauquelinia corymbosa
Rosewood
Evergreen sumac
Rhus virens
Rhus microphylla
Little leaf sumac & berries
Fragrant or
Skunkbush
sumac
Rhus trilobata
Flameleaf
sumac
Rhus
lanceolata
Mexican buckeye
Ungnadia
specioisa
Texas
pistache
Pistacia
texana
Mexican redbud
Cercis canadensis
var. mexicana
Mexican persimmon
Diospyros texana
Texas Mountain Laurel
Mescal Bean
Sophora secundiflora
Goldenball leadtree, Leucaena retusa
Texas mulberry, Morus microphylla
Desert willow, Chilopsis linearis
Honey mesquite
Prosopis
glandulosa
Netleaf hackberry & bark
Celtis reticulata
Western soapberry
Sapindus drummondii
Littleleaf walnut
Juglans microcarpa
Fruit
Leaves
Bark
Mexican plum
Prunus mexicana
Southwestern Chokecherry
Prunus Serotina var.virens
Higher elevation, canyon,
mountain trees
Oaks, pinyon / juniper and large conifers
Mexican pinyon pine
Pinus cembroides
Drooping
juniper
Juniperus
flaccida
Pinchot juniper, Juniperus pinchotii
Alligator juniper
Juniperus deppeana
Bigtooth maple
Acer
grandidentatum
Texas madrone
Arbutus xalapensis
var. texana
Cluster of buds at terminal end of twigs.
Quercus:
gravesii
virginiana
oblongifolia
muehlenburgii
White
oaks
Scaly bark
white or gray in color.
Mexican Blue oak, Lacey
oak, Mexican Dwarf oak,
Chinkapin oak, Gambel
oak, ScrubLive oak,
Netleaf oak, Arizona
White oak, Sandpaper
oak, Vasey Shin oak,
Coahuila Scrub oak,
Mohr Shin oak, Havard
Shin oak, Gray oak,
Escarpment Live oak
Vasey oak
Quercus
pungens
var.
vaseyana
Chinkapin oak
Quercus
muehlenbergii
Gray oak
Quercus
grisea
Black
oaks
Sometimes
clumped with Red
oaks. Dark almost
black bark, broken
into squares or
small plates.
Sliverleaf oak
Emory oak
Chisos oak
Graves oak
Lateleaf oak
Delcarmen oak
Sometimes the
bark is in
between. The
bark is tight,
gray or black,
broken into
small scales,
not deeply
furrowed.
Lower elevation 4400-6000 ft.
Emory oak, Quercus emoryi
Higher elevation 4500-7500 ft.
Sliverleaf oak, Quercus hypoleucoides
Graves oak, Quercus gravesii
Contact
John M. White
Garden Curator
Chihuahuan Desert Gardens
University of Texas at El Paso
500 W. University Ave.
El Paso, TX 79968
http://utep.edu/museum
[email protected]
(915) 747-5335