Texas Kidneywood, Vara Dulce 
Eysenhardtia texana, Fabaceae, Bean Family 

Description: Much-branched, large shrub with small leaflets and many fragrant white flowers 
Height: 6 to 12 ft 
Flowers: White, small (0.2 inch), numerous in slender, elongate clusters (racemes); throughout year after rainfall 
Fruit: Short, flat, one-seeded, brown pod, 0.4 inch long 
Foliage: Alternate, drought-deciduous, many leaflets, dull-green above, paler below, aroma distinctive 
Spines: Unarmed 
Bark: Light-gray and smooth, breaking into thin, elongate plates with age 
Growth Rate: Fast 

Requirements: 
Sun: Full sunshine, light shade 
Soil: Sandy, caliche, gravelly 
Drainage: Well 
Water: Low, drought tolerant 
Maintenance: None 
Propagation: Seed, softwood cuttings

Native Habitat: Chaparrals 

Wildlife Use: 
Leaves - browsed by White-tailed Deer, livestock, caterpillars of Mexican Dogface and Reakirt's Blue Fruit - doves, turkeys, jackrabbits 
Nectar - bees, butterflies 

Comments: Flowered daily in Edinburg through drought and freezes from Spring 1995 into 1997.