Texas Ebony (Future styling suggestions?)

Finally acquired a Texas Ebony close to what I had envisioned! Woo hoo! Oh yeah baby! Oh yeah!

No surprise I'm drawn to this variety as they look similar to another favorite of mine Black Olive (Bucida spinosa). This Texas Ebony is 21" high and 20" across. I took a couple of photos here for any input on it's potential and future styling in a year or two maybe?

Thank ya'll for any suggestions and comments.

It is premature to think of styling this tree yet. It looks weak, with a lot of dead or leafless twigs.
I suggest you plant it in the ground & feed it heavily for a year, then we can talk about styling. If you have no ground available, put it in a big grow box or bulb pan in coarse soil, feed it heavily & give it lots of sun.
Iris

PS
Make sure you leave the top of the nebari a little exposed, so you don't get reverse taper.
Iris

Iris,

Into a grow box it goes and steady feeding regimen. Thanks for the advice as I'd like to see this little one get stronger and grow!

Little confusing, is that a Texas Ebony [ Was Pithecellobium Flexicaule now E something ] or a Bucida Spinosa ?

I left an image of the Texas Ebony in the bonsai forum. They like full sun and a freely draining soil.That one used to be very thin as the trunk went, years ago.
Khaimraj

Khaimraj Seepersad wrote:Little confusing, is that a Texas Ebony [ Was Pithecellobium Flexicaule now E something ] or a Bucida Spinosa ?

It's Texas Ebony - the species is re-classified as Ebenopsis ebano in the Fabaceae or Legume family. The leaves and zig-zag branches look just like Bucida spinosa.

Kimchi Monger wrote "It's Texas Ebony - the species is re-classified as Ebenopsis ebano in the Fabaceae or Legume family. The leaves and zig-zag branches look just like Bucida spinosa."

Texas Ebony and Bucida spinosa (Bahamian Black Olive) are not similar. And IMHO very different for bonsai. I have had a Texas Ebony for over 20 years and it is still a very, thorny stick in a pot. Their leaf and growth habit are very different. Texas Ebony is more like Brazillian Raintree, but without the interesting trunk. I can not recall ever seeing a Tezas Ebony bonsai in a Florida show.

Billy,

Texas ebony is dofficult, but not impossible. Give me a few more years and a few more bumps.
This also was a stick in 1982 or so, and it was neglected for years.
Khaimraj

Wow Bill!

Thanks for the photo and information. Very informative and Wow! again to that tree of yours. I can see as the branches and trunk thicken, they don't resemble the black olive. Thanks for the inspirational photo.

I will try to post photos of Texas Ebony and Bucida spinosa.

The two photos above are of Texas Ebony. One the entire very frustrating plant and the other a leaf detail. Note the typical Legume type compound leaf. The seed is also bean like. (none in photos)

Captions for three photos above.
1. I really like this Bucida spinosa, it is about 2 feet tall.
2. This is leaf detail on the tree above. The leaves grow from a central point in a whirl.
3. This is a smaller Bucida spinosa, probably about 6 inches.

As a follow up, I did have to treat the Texas Ebony with a little Safer when I found a few wooley aphids! OH MY GOD! CALLED NT'L GUARD, LOCAL SHERIFF, AND ANYONE WITH ONE DAY MORE EXPERIENCE THAN I. Water sprayed trees down the next morning before watering and fertilizing. Came home this evening to find the aphids gone but will keep an eye on this matter as they are likely to return in a few days depending on egg situation etc. I plan on letting it be for another couple of years to see how it comes along before doing anything else with this one.

Bill,

Thanks for taking the time to post these photos of Bucida spinosa since that topic was brought up.

This month 9/01/10 I visited the Dallas World Aquarium where I was delighted to see Bucida spinosa towering some 10 and 20 feet throughout their rain forest! I've attached a photo of one below and the little one in a pot is mine.

Now, that two footer of yours is an eye opener! I also loved the shape of that third one with a flatter top a little reminescent of flat top Acacia species. Your photos show very good strong trees and I don't know why I'm drawn to these varieties but they are super! Yeah, that two footer upright is very nice and the foliage pads look gorgeous. Interesting how the trunk maintained the slight tell-tale zig-zag pattern.

Below is the photo of that 15 something foot Bucida spinosa and my little one in a pot which was more than half dead when I purchased it.

In South Florida I have observed. at least, three variations of Bucida, mostly in leaf size. One is called Shady Lady and has the largest leaves, there was one of these on a pond near our daughters home in Sunrise, west of Ft. Lauderdale. I also have a Shady Lady Bucida still in a 12 inch bulb pan, this tree is over 30 years old and its trunk isn't much larger than one inch.