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roselee_gw

Texas Madrone ...

I've been in love with a tree before I knew what it was. While tromping around a deer lease north of Bandara many, many years ago I would go out of my way to look at a beautiful tree with wonder. I was thrilled to finally learn what it was, a Texas Madrone, but alas, being an almost impossible tree to transplant and difficult to grow, it was never to be a part of my yard.

About 20 years ago when the new Hwy. 16 was being built an amazing number of Madrone trees, maybe 10 or so, were exposed when the brush and trees were cleared for the new road. Again I admired them. Yesterday, Shirley and I were on our way to some thrift stores in Lakehills and we decided to watch and see if any of them survived. Yea, we spotted one! According to the link below they are a slow growing tree so judging from the size this tree must be over a hundred years old.

The smooth red bark and twisted branches are incredibly lovely. This tree had a few dead limbs, but that it has survived the recent drought is a testimony to its tenacity.


It has cream flowers in the spring and red fruit in the fall. Here is the beginning of that fruit.

Seeing this tree was the highlight of our little trip and I wanted to share these photos with you. I read in one of Mara's posts that she has them on her property. Mara, how fortunate you are! Though I can't grow it I'm just glad it exists. Long live the Texas Madrone!

Here is a link that might be useful: More about Texas Madrones ...

Comments (9)

  • rcnaylor
    11 years ago

    Well put Roselee.

    I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of seeing one. But, what a unique tree it is.

    Kind of reminds me of some of the exotic looking trees you see from Australia.

    Quirky, strong, and a dogged survivor... definitely sounds like a native Texan!

  • PKponder TX Z7B
    11 years ago

    So sculptural and lovely !

  • carrie751
    11 years ago

    I've never seen one either............Lovely trees !!!

  • rock_oak_deer
    11 years ago

    Here's my blog post on the same tree.

    Yes, I wrote a whole post on a single tree.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Madrone

  • roselee z8b S.W. Texas
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Shirley and I agreed that spending time with this tree was the highlight of our day, maybe our week! Do trees have spirits? If so the Texas Madrone casts a powerful spell.

    Shirley your blog post and pictures of this Madrone tree are wonderful. Thank you!

  • wantonamara Z8 CenTex
    11 years ago

    I live in an area that has a great many Madrones in the valleys, but few big ones. I think the cattle did them in at sometime. My friend has one that she can climb into. I am jealous. I have about 20 of them on my land, and I am finding more as I clear brush, but , alas, they are small. The one by my back door is about 10' tall and the bark is starting to flake off and get some character and color. When we moved hear it reached to my shin. Every year I buy lots of wire and search for madrones and cage them off from the deer so they do not eat them.

    There are all sorts of beliefs about them. There is an area in back of Henly TX that has a huge colony and some people think that they are all connected by their roots and if disturbed the whole colony will suffer. I am not that alarmist but the trees are disappearing. I just heard another weird story that they are aluminum sensitive and they are dying because the Government are riddling our sky with aluminum in the chem trails. I am not falling for that one just yet, maybe never. I think the deer are out of balance and they deer are eating the babies along with red oaks, escarpment black cherries and redbuds. They stay tiny till I cage them and then they get large quickly. That tells me that the deer are eating and if I stop that interference, then they grow. There is a large one in the back of the valley where it is too steep for deer.

    I love Madrones.

  • roselee z8b S.W. Texas
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Mara, it's GREAT to know there are Texas Madrones growing in other parts of the state including your own property. How furtunate you are to have one near your house. Thank you for protecting the ones you come across from the deer.

    I read an article that estimated there are several times the number of deer in the US than there were when the country was first settled and they're causing a lot of damage such as you mention, plus something I hadn't thought about is they forage on the brush that song birds nest in so we have less birds, which means more insects and so on down the line. We've killed off deer predators since one much wanted wolves, pumas and bears roaming around their farms and ranches.

  • wantonamara Z8 CenTex
    11 years ago

    DON"T GET ME STARTED!!!! Deer = Tiara wearing horned rats in high-heeled shoes with an entitlement complex. They should be dinner for someone or something, then I could look at them like a sweet darling creatures without an agenda . YUMMMMY. Right now there is one laughing at me in my gorge. They can be scary when they are large and making that horse laugh. He is topping off all my flowers. A mystery milkweed came up and WHACK. My annual calirhoe patch, WHACK before it seeded out. How rude! My trigger finger is twitching.

    I spend $150 last year on welded wire for cages. I need to do that again. I found a whole bunch of escarpment black cherry starts under a cedar that I want to trim up. I won't touch the tree till I get the wire. I piled up brush all around it. Most of the gardening that I do is restoration work and attempts at re-vegitation.

    If you are ever out at the Guadalupe National park, they have a really easy hike that goes up a tiny box canyon (I forget the name of it). There is a unbelievable madrone that hangs over a dry whirlpool in the canyon. Magic tree in a magic spot. Not to be missed. The madrones out there get large like the one you have pictured and their bark is just amazing.

    Lets have the plant swap under that tree you know of. LOL

  • linda_tx8
    11 years ago

    I know exactly where that is. I stop and look at it from time to time when I go by there. Sometimes I take photos, as you did. It's truly beautiful! I believe that two native plant nurseries in that direction grow madrones...the one near Kerrville and the one in the town of Medina. Native Plants of Texas and Medina Garden Nursery. I have to cage certain plants I put on my property also. I've got the Littleleaf Mulberry Tree well-protected now, however...we had the side yard fence extended out far enough to include it. It's not just the deer, it's the wild hogs, also.

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