Tree Handbook

Anacahuita

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Anacahuita
Anacua

ANACAHUITA Mexican Olive
Cordia boissieri - Boraginaceae, Borage Family


DESCRIPTION: 
  • Small tree with large leaves and showy, white flowers.
    Height: 10-20 feet.

  • Flowers: Large, showy and white with yellow throats, trumpet-shaped.

  • Fruit: Fleshy, white berry resembling an olive.

  • Foliage: Deciduous, velvety, 4 to 5-inch-long leaves.

  • Bark: Thick, gray, ridged.

  • Growth rate: Moderate.


REQUIREMENTS: 
Sun: Full or partial shade.
  • Soil: Any.

  • Drainage: Moderate to well-drained.

  • Water: Moderate; drought hardy once established.

  • Maintenance: Fleshy fruit messy if crushed on concrete.

NATIVE HABITAT: 

Brush-grassland.

WILDLIFE USE: 

Cover, nest sites; fruit used by birds and other wildlife (deer, javalina), livestock.


COMMENTS: 

Edible fruit (in moderate quantities); jelly used as cough remedy; leaves used to treat rheumatism and bronchial disorders. Stark contrast of beautiful white tissuelike flowers to the soft velvet dark green foliage will dramatize an entryway, courtyard or secluded area.

 

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Content by the Native Plant Project - P.O. Box 2742 - San Juan, TX  78589
All Rights Reserved
Revised: May 15, 2012
 This site designed and maintained by Bert Wessling ( bwessling AT gmail DOT com ) Comments Welcomed.