Trees

Mulga is a striking evergreen that grows to a moderate fifteen to twenty feet with a ten- to twelve-foot spread. It is an upright, broadleaf tree with dense, needle-like, silvery-gray foliage that gives it an interesting visual, pyramidal appearance. The dark red branches become a darker grayish-brown at maturity. This slow to moderately growing plant can develop a single or multiple trunk. It produces golden yellow, puffy blooms that appear heaviest in the spring or summer, but continue blooming three or four more times during the year. After flowering, flat, brownish-tan, oblong pods appear and then drop from the tree. It is hardy to fifteen to twenty degrees Fahrenheit.

Use it as a freestanding, street tree or in medians. The mulga also makes a great screen or windbreak specimen, or a background tree that is a good choice around pools or water features, since it does not produce messy leaves. The tree is native to western Australia, south Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland, where it grows in clay soils. The Aboriginal word for mulga is “dream seed.”

Guajillo is a small, spreading tree that grows to 12 feet tall by 12 feet wide. It is very shrub-like but can be trained into a small accent tree. Naturally multi-trunked, it is evergreen in the low elevation zones and briefly deciduous where winters have regular frosts. The compound light-green leaves are divided into many tiny leaflets giving Guajillo an interesting, fern-like appearance. Variable sized thorns are present on branches. In the late spring, hundreds of creamy white flower clusters burst into bloom. These ball-like flower clusters are sweetly fragrant. Native to Texas and the Chihuahuan desert, Guajillo is usually grown as a large, rounded shrub but is easily trained to a small tree.

Sweet acacia is a small to medium-sized tree that grows to 20 ft. tall and develops a 20 foot canopy. Fragrant, golden yellow, puffball-like flowers appear from October to March. Flowers are followed by short, dark brown, seedpods. These pods contain many seeds that sprout readily with extra moisture. Its branches have 1″ long thorns that can be a nuisance. Sweet acacia tree is often confused with a similar plant,Acacia smallii, which is more tolerant of cold and blooms only in the spring. There are several hybrids between these two plants that are sold in nurseries under the name “Sweet Acacia.” This charming tree makes a colorful addition to gardens in Southern Arizona, where it is highly valued for its cool season flower display and sweet fragrance.

The graceful medium-sized evergreen grows twenty feet tall and fifteen feet wide with pendulous, weeping branches and multiple trunks. It has striking shiny, silvery, grayish-blue foliage that is long and thin, along with inconspicuous, pale yellow, ball-like flowers that appear in spring and winter. In Australia, Aboriginal hunters used its dark, grainy wood to make boomerangs. The heartwood of the tree produces a deep chocolate to dark toffee color that has been used by craftsmen to make furniture. The oil produced after cutting into the wood of the tree has a violet fragrance. This interesting specimen tree should be utilized in the landscape more often because it tolerates a wide range of soils from acidic to alkaline, is drought-tolerant, low-maintenance, and does not produce litter. Additionally, it is frost-tolerant to about fifteen degrees Fahrenheit and likes full sun and reflected heat. It should be irrigated deeply to encourage a good root system. This tree looks interesting in front of a tall, white wall or large structure with its shiny, blue foliage. It can also be used in groupings of two or three for an interesting look. Use it as a windbreak or in the background of ponds and water features, or as a focal point at the entrance to a building or home with it willowy appearance. The tree is a native to the river floodplains and dry outback areas of central and western Australia.

Willow acacia is an Australian tree that provides refreshing shade in low desert regions of Southern Arizona. It has narrow leaves and a weeping appearance, making it ideal for use in space restricted areas such as parking lots. A fast grower, willow acacia is taller and more narrow than most native trees. In Tucson, it grows to about 40 feet tall with a 20 foot spread. Fragrant, puffball flowers appear almost anytime of year but are most abundant in the spring. Willow acacia makes a fine, drought-tolerant tree for space restricted areas.

The bottle tree is a fast-growing evergreen with poplar-like, dark green, dense, pointed foliage. It has a broad trunk that tapers into a pyramidal shape when young. As it matures, the trunk widens and has the ability to store water. The tree grows from thirty-five to sixty feet and spreads thirty feet wide. In late spring, it produces creamy white, bell-shaped blooms streaked with purple. After flowering, dark brown, woody seedpods appear that contain yellow seeds. Hairs on the seedpod may cause an allergic itching reaction in some people. Aborigines roasted seeds from the pods, used the soft, spongy wood to make shields and used the bark as a fiber.

Use it as a street tree in medians, along roadways, in parking lots or wide-open spaces like parks, or residential settings. This is a great tree choice to use around large buildings or as a screen. It is native to dry forests, wet, coastal areas, and interior, semi-arid areas of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland in Australia.

The Texas Mountain Laurel (Calia secundiflora) is well-known for its pendulous clusters of purple, fragrant flowers that look as good as they smell. This popular plant is often used as a flowering, evergreen shrub but, with time and proper pruning, it can be trained to grow as a small, multi-trunked tree. It grows slowly from 8 to 15 feet tall with a 6 to 10 foot spread. Its multiple trunks support a disperse canopy of glossy green leaves. In the spring, Texas Mountain Laurel produces bright purple, drooping clusters of fragrant flowers. Its flowers have a sweet fragrance that resembles grape Kool-Aid™. By mid summer, the flowers fade and give rise to fuzzy, tan colored seed pods. The small, orange seeds are poisonous, but the seed pods and the seed coats are hard and fairly difficult to crack. A native to Mexico, New Mexico and the Hill Country of Texas, Calia secundiflora is easily adapted to high temperatures, alkaline soils and intense sunshine. It mixes well with cactus and other desert adapted plants adding a unique color, texture and fragrance to the landscape.

Desert willow trees come in many varieties. Native to southwest U.S. and northern Mexico, this small, deciduous tree has narrow, bright green leaves and colorful, trumpet shaped flowers. During the cold season, desert willow will shed its leaves for up to six months. In summer, few trees can rival the beauty of flowering desert willow. Flower colors range from white to purple, although a pale pink or a lavender flower color is common. This drought-tolerant, hardy tree performs well in southern Arizona, but it is not actually a true willow tree. It belongs to a family of blooming plants that includes pink and red trumpet vine. Desert willow trees come in a variety of cultivars with remarkable differences in flower color, leaf form and branching characteristics.

Texas olive is an evergreen to semi-deciduous tree reaching fifteen to twenty feet tall and about twenty-five feet wide. It has multiple trunks with a dark gray bark and deep green, oval leaves that are large and leathery in texture. The undersides of the leaves are covered in fuzz with deep, yellowish-white veins. From spring to fall, it produces beautiful clusters of creamy white blossoms with yellow throats that attract hummingbirds. After flowering, a small, non-edible fruit forms that resembles an olive and is eaten by birds. The fruit has also been used to make jellies in Mexico. This is an excellent specimen and patio tree and can also be used as a screen, windbreak, or background planting in courtyards and medians and along roadsides. It is a great substitute plant for the white oleander tree. This tree is native to southern Texas at the tip of the Rio Grande and also grows natively in Mexico in Coahuila, San Luis Potosi, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas.

Texas ebony tree grows quite well in Southern Arizona. Native to the Chihuahuan desert, this highly decorative tree is remarkably drought tolerant. Under ideal conditions, it grows to 30 feet tall with an equal spread. Medium green, compound leaves are arranged along thorny branches that twist and change direction repeatedly. Cream colored, fragrant clusters of flowers are produced from late spring to fall. These sweetly fragrant flowers are followed by large, dark brown seedpods. Texas ebony grows rather slowly, eventually becoming a small to medium-sized tree with a dense canopy. Formerly known asPithecellobium flexicaule, Texas ebony tree was recently renamedEbenopsis ebano.

The common fig tree is a deciduous, spreading, multi-trunk tree with smooth, gray bark that grows to heights of fifteen to thirty feet and has a wide but low, open canopy. It has large multi-lobed, showy, dark green foliage and produces small, inconspicuous flowers. The fig tree usually sets two crops of fruit during the warm season. The first crop appears in spring when the leaves first emerge. The second crop produces fruit into late summer to early fall. The edible, brownish-purple fruit is pollinated by a small wasp that enters the flower through a small opening. The fruit has high sugar content and can be eaten fresh, dried, or canned and is used in a number of recipes. It does not last long on the tree after ripening. In the winter, the foliage drops from the tree, and when bare of leaves, it creates a distinctive and interesting silhouette in the landscape. There are many different varieties of the fig tree. Two of the most common in the Southwest desert are ‘Black Mission’ and ‘Brown Turkey’. It is native to Southeast Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean areas from Greece to Turkey where it is found growing in rocks or in shrubby areas. The fig is grown commercially in Texas, California, Oregon, and Washington.

The hardy evergreen is a multi-trunk tree that grows quickly to eighteen feet with a spread of twelve to fifteen feet. Its smooth, brownish-gray bark darkens as the tree matures. This tree produces bright green leaves that are small, thick, and leathery. Older foliage suddenly drops from the tree in late spring to make way for new, green leaves. Small, inconspicuous flowers appear in early spring, with male and female parts on separate flowers, but together on the same plant. After flowering, a small, winged fruit appears with dark, flat seeds. The pod clings to the tree for a long period of time. Use it as a patio tree, around pools, or in large containers or planters. It is also a great shade tree and privacy screen, and adds a nice touch of deep green color and a delicate, airy feel into the garden. Little leaf ash is native to western Texas, southern New Mexico, southern Arizona, and in Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Zacatecas, and Tamaulipas, Mexico, growing along washes and rocky slopes at elevations of 2,500 to 7,000 feet.

This fast-growing, deciduous tree reaches thirty to forty-five feet and spreads twenty-five to forty-five feet or more, depending on conditions. It produces dark green, three- to six-inch-long leaves that are divided into multiple leaflets to form a dense, rounded canopy. The leaves turn a brilliant yellow in the fall just before falling off the tree. Its flowers are dioecious, with male and female blooms forming on separate trees. Male trees produce inconspicuous flowers in the spring that can cause a mess. Female trees drop a winged fruit that resembles a maple seed. The variety ‘Modesto’ is symmetrical, compact and a little smaller in size but a vigorous grower. ‘Fantex’ produces dark green, leathery foliage and is the best variety for residential landscapes. Use this magnificent tree for dense shade, as a street tree or in parks. It can also be used in large residential settings in combination with other evergreen plants. The Arizona ash is native to California, Texas, and Arizona. It is also endemic to Mexico, ranging from northern Baja California east to Coahuila and Nuevo Leon, where it grows along canyons and water sources at 2,000 to 6,000 feet in elevation.

This magnificent, tropical beauty grows twenty-five to forty feet with an equal spread. Its tall canopy has an open, irregular shape and usually develops multiple trunks. Jacaranda produces soft, delicate, velvety, fernlike foliage and arching branches. In late spring, clusters of two-inch, showy, lavender, tubular blossoms appear. The blossoms sometimes appear before the flush of foliage, and the tree blooms heavily after mild winters. Its extravagant blooms completely cover the tree, and when they fall, they carpet the ground in color. There are some varieties available with white blossoms. After blooming, the tree produces a distinctive, brownish, two-inch-long, flattened capsule that contains winged seeds. The seedpod remains on the tree for a long time. This showy specimen has brownish-gray bark that darkens with age. It develops large surface roots that can lift sidewalks and walls. Use it in landscapes for tropical effects, as a tall specimen on the south or west side of a building, or around water features and larger ponds. It can also be used as a shade tree in warmer climates, a tall silhouette against a large building or wall, or a color accent. It is native to Brazil, Argentina, and Peru where it grows in Amazon regions.

This deciduous tree grows quickly to heights of fifteen to twenty feet and six to fifteen feet wide, with single or multiple trunks and a rounded crown. The leaves are small, rounded and deep green, and turn beautiful colors of orange and red in the fall. The tree drops its foliage in winter, exposing an exfoliating bark that is whitish-tan with a smooth, attractive trunk. It produces prolific blooms in colors of watermelon red, pink, lavender, and white. In the Southwest desert, crape myrtle blooms June through September with extremely showy flowers borne in clusters that add a dramatic accent to the landscape. After blooming, brown or black fruit appears, and then dries out to release small, rounded seeds. The small, capsule-like seedpod with upright spikes hangs on the tree throughout the winter.  Use it as a patio tree, in groupings, or as a smaller specimen tree at the entry of a house. Dwarf varieties are available that grow from five to seven feet tall. It originated in China and has been naturalized in the United States, where it was first introduced in the eighteenth century.

Feather bush is a graceful, single- or multi-trunk evergreen or semi-deciduous tree with a wide, spreading growth habit to heights of fifteen to twenty feet and widths of about fifteen feet. It has lacy, bright green to grayish-green leaves and produces clusters of creamy white, fragrant, puffball blooms in early spring. After the blooms disappear, brown, flat, leguminous seedpods hang from the branches. They contain reddish-brown, flat seeds that last on the tree for a long time. The bark is grayish-brown and turns darker when mature. Feather bush is a good selection for the landscape when light shade is needed for smaller, understory plants. Use it around pools or ponds for a desert oasis theme, tropical effect, or background screen. Its feathery, semi-deciduous foliage also makes for a nice patio tree or specimen for small spaces. Feather bush grows natively in southern Arizona and northern parts of Sonora and Sinaloa, Mexico.

The fruitless olive is a distinctive evergreen that grows at a slow to medium rate to twenty-five to thirty feet tall and wide, and has an airy appearance. It is either a single- or multiple-trunk, has narrow, gray-green foliage with a light silvery-green on the undersides of the leaves. This fruitless variety does not produce fruit, eliminating any messy fruit drop, maintenance, and possible allergic reactions to pollen produced by the flowers. The tree has a dark gray, rough bark, and it grows with a twisted open canopy. Mature olive trees often develop contorted, massive trunks, and are quite interesting in appearance. In the spring, this tree produces insignificant yellowish-white, tubular blooms that grow in clusters at the end of the leaves. However, the flowers are sterile and the tree will not produce olive fruit. Several municipalities in the Southwest desert have banned the planting of the fruiting olive tree from residential and commercial landscapes due to allergy-producing pollen and the mess created by the fruit. Use the olive as a specimen tree or shade tree, or mixed with deep green or evergreen plants in the foreground. The species provides a Mediterranean feel and presentation in the landscape. The popular fruitless varieties ‘Swan Hill’, ‘Majestic Beauty’, and ‘Wilsonii’, are available in local garden centers. The tree is a native of the Mediterranean region near Crete and Syria and is commonly grown throughout the Southwest desert.

Desert ironwood is a member of the pea family and its leaves and flowers resemble the sweet pea. This single- or multi-trunk tree reaches heights of twenty-five feet with a nearly equal spread, and is slow-growing. Ironwood is one of the oldest living tree species and provides desert plants and animals with nutrients and shelter, providing shade for quail, doves and small rodents. It produces a bluish-gray, leathery, oval leaf with fine hairs and develops an attractive wide-spreading crown at maturity. The bark on young trees is smooth and gray, becoming wrinkled as the tree ages. The young trees have branches with thorns that disappear as they age. In early spring through late spring, clusters of pea-like flowers appear which range from pale rose to pink or white. The blossoms grow in arches at the end of the branches in a beautiful color display. After the flowers fade, edible, brown seedpods develop, which become a major food supply for wildlife. When given supplemental irrigation, the tree remains an evergreen. In its natural habitat, it sheds its leaves during dry periods to conserve water. The wood of the ironwood is hard and dense and is used for woodworking, charcoal, and firewood. Its heartwood is dark brown and takes a beautiful polish.  Use it as a screen, background, buffer tree, or as a transitional plant to separate the desert from more tropical and high water-use plantings. Ironwood is also a good choice for shading a patio or an informal sitting area. The tree is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, where it grows below 2,500 feet in sandy washes, rocky slopes, and valleys. It also grows natively in the southeastern California deserts, Baja California, and Sonora, Mexico.

Blue palo verde tree is easily distinguished by its blue-green bark and brilliant yellow flower display. It can grow to 25 feet tall with a 25 foot spread. Its tiny leaves are cold and drought deciduous but, due to its blue-green color, it looks evergreen from a distance. Blue palo verde tree is naturally multi-trunked with a low hanging canopy. Known for its fantastic mid-spring flower display, it is native to Southern Arizona. Formerly, blue palo verde was known as Cercidium floridum. Recently renamed Parkinsonia florida, blue palo verde tree is often hybridized with other “Parkinsonia” species producing cultivars with remarkable differences in form and character.

Sometimes called Sonoran palo verde, the palo brea tree has a wide, open and spreading crown, making it a favorite shade tree in Tucson and Southern Arizona. This drought-tolerant, native tree is perfect for xeriscapes and low desert gardens, where its architectural uniqueness can be featured. The twisting, irregular character of its trunk is truly beautiful. In late spring, masses of yellow flowers in axillary clusters cover this tree. Flowers are followed by light-brown seed pods. The palo brea tree is native to Northern Mexico and the Sonoran desert, where it grows to about 25 feet tall with a 25 foot spread.

This semi-deciduous, “thorn-less” tree has characteristics of the foothills, blue, and Mexican palo verde. It is quite similar to the other Parkinsonia species, growing rapidly to heights of twenty to twenty-five feet with an equal spread. This tree has small, bright green foliage and an attractive, smooth, green bark. Brilliant masses of yellow blossoms appear in the spring and again intermittently into the summer if given extra water. The flower blossoms on this species of palo verde are larger than those of the parent trees. This hybrid produces all of the excellent traits of the other palo verde trees.  Use this tree to cast light shade on patios and porches. It was hybridized at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, and is a genetic cross between Parkinsonia microphylla, Parkinsonia florida, and Parkinsonia aculeata.

This dense evergreen makes an excellent screen, growing twenty to twenty-five feet high and wide. It can be trained as a single or multi-stem tree or a large hedge. Its small, leathery leaves are olive green and have three to five pairs of leaflets. It produces inconspicuous flowers in the spring followed by black or red seeds. Its attractive stems are reddish in color when young, turning gray as they mature.  The evergreen pistache was given its name because it produces a sweet-flavored resin called mastic, which comes from the bark of the trunk and softens when chewed. The resin is used as a breath freshener and to flavor puddings and cakes. Use it in the landscape as a hedge, windbreak, screen, or patio tree, or around pools and water features. It can also be used in areas as a lush transitional plant between low-water-use and oasis-type landscapes. The tree is native to Mediterranean regions such as Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, and Africa, growing on dry hillsides usually by the coast.

Native to South America, the Argentine mesquite is a beautiful tree with darker bark and a more vigorous growth rate than many other mesquite trees. Here in Southern Arizona, it grows to 40 feet high with a spread of 60 feet or more. Fast growing with a wide crown, Argentine mesquite trees are not recommended for small urban spaces. Young trees are quite contorted and asymmetrical. With proper training, Argentine mesquite becomes a large, picturesque shade tree. Greenish yellow flowers appear in late spring and are followed by 3″ to 5″ long, beige seedpods or “beans” as they are frequently called. There are several hybrids of Argentine mesquite making identification difficult. Argentine mesquite (Prosopis alba) is larger with a rounder, wider crown than its close relatives.

Chilean mesquite tree is popular in Southern Arizona because of its rapid growth, lower water requirement and ability to provide shade. Native to South America, the Chilean mesquite grows either singly or multi-trunked reaching a mature size of 30′ tall with a 40′ or greater spread. Its trunk appears twisted with dark, coarse textured bark. Stipular thorns up to 3″ long are variably present. Chilean mesquite tree is semi-dormant, from December to April, shedding most of its foliage in the winter. Small, catkin-like flowers appear in the spring. The flowers are followed by light brown, elongated seedpods that ripen and fall to the ground in the summer. Chilean mesquite tree readily hybridizes with Prosopis alba. Some hybrids are thornless.

Honey mesquite is a willow-like, deciduous tree with an open, spreading crown and low growing, twisted branches. It reaches heights of thirty-five feet with a thirty- to forty-foot spread. The tree has a delicate leaf canopy and gray, sculptural, single or multiple trunks, and produces a weeping structure with willowy, deep green foliage. It loses all its leaves in winter and new foliage sprouts in early spring. Creamy white, slightly fragrant blossoms appear in the spring followed by long, thin, tan seedpods in summer. The blossoms contain a great deal of nectar and are pollinated by bees. When the tree is about three years old, it begins to produce seeds, which are encased within a fruit that is eaten and then dispersed by deer, antelopes, javelina, squirrels, quail, and turkeys. Seedpods from the honey mesquite are still used today in Mexico for food and to make a beverage. This tree is considered an important food source since it bears fruit even during extreme drought situations. The structural branches of the mesquite produce tiny thorns, but there are some thorns-less varieties available. Use it as a shade or specimen tree in residential areas, commercial locations, or park settings where it can spread out, since it has a natural, irregular growth pattern. It can also be used as a shrub or low growing tree for screening or as a windbreak. Also, consider creating a grove of three or more trees to attract wildlife. The tree grows natively along stream banks, plains, and foothills, and in areas where groundwater is available in southwestern Arizona, southern California, and northern Mexico, east to central Texas, and north to Kansas and Oklahoma.

Native to Southern Arizona, the velvet mesquite is a low branching, open tree with dark, almost black, shaggy bark. It grows wild along the washes, sometimes forming woods in the foothills surrounding Tucson. The velvet mesquite has gray-green, bi-pinnate leaves that are deciduous in cold weather. Multiple stems have stout thorns that can grow up to 3 inches long. Velvet mesquite tree grows to 25 feet tall with a 35 foot or greater spread. Its asymmetrical shape, multiple trunk and wide spreading crown are not conducive for use in small, space restricted areas. Pale yellow flowers appear in the late spring, clustered together in dense, pendulous spikes. These are followed by 3″ to 9″ long seedpods that ripen and drop to the ground during the summer. Perfect for low water use xeriscaping, velvet mesquite tree appears in large, open landscapes throughout Southern Arizona.

The attractive, deciduous tree has an upright, spreading habit with a rounded crown, and is a moderate- to fast-grower reaching fifteen to twenty-five feet tall and about fifteen to twenty feet wide. In spring, beautiful cranberry-burgundy foliage emerges with a medium textured, oval leaf arrangement. By fall, the foliage matures to greenish-bronze. It produces pinkish-white springtime blossoms that make a showy appearance before the leaves emerge. After blooming, one-inch purple fruits appear and attract birds and squirrels. The fruit can be used to make an edible jam preserve.  Two popular varieties are ‘Thundercloud’ and ‘Atropurpurea’. Use it as a specimen or small shade tree near a deck or patio, or in oriental gardens where its showy foliage, attractive, dark bark and spring flowers provide great contrast against other landscape plants. The species originated in central and eastern Europe, southeast Asia, and central Asia.

The Evergreen Pear Tree (Pyrus kawakamii) is prized for its beautiful winter color. It grows moderately from fifteen to thirty feet high with an equal but irregular spread. It has dark green, glossy, oval-shaped leaves with pointed tips and a smooth texture. In late December and January, the foliage turns a beautiful orange-red color. As its leaves drop off, this tree becomes deciduous for a short time. Nevertheless, it is one of the first trees to bloom each year. Around mid February, the evergreen pear tree produces an amazing display of brilliant white, fragrant blossoms. These showy flower clusters have a pungent odor that attracts birds, butterflies and bees. After flowering, it produces pea-sized, bronze colored fruit which is rarely seen and is not edible. Native to the island of Taiwan, the evergreen pear tree adds colorful interest to landscapes here in the desert southwest.

This majestic evergreen grows forty to fifty feet tall and almost as wide with a broad, rounded canopy, horizontal branches, and thick, leathery, green leaves. During cold winters, the tree defoliates and new green leaves emerge in the spring. Its bark is dark and deeply furrowed at maturity. Southern live oak produces inconspicuous, tan, catkin-like flowers in the spring that are typical of most oak trees. After flowering, brownish-black acorns appear in abundance, which are sweet and edible, and are eaten by birds and other animals.Use it as a shade or specimen tree on golf courses, in front of large-scale buildings, along streets, around parking lots, and in parks as a screen, or planted in masses in wide-open spaces. Southern live oak is the designated state tree of Georgia. It is native to scrub lands, and coastal and inland wetlands throughout Virginia. This tree also grows natively in parts of Florida, Texas, and southeastern portions of the United States. It can also be found in isolated mountain areas of northeastern Mexico.

This fast-growing shade tree grows thirty to forty feet tall with an equal spread and develops a broad, vase-like shape with a pendulous, weeping branch habit. It is semi-deciduous, losing its leaves in late December in the Southwest desert, but retaining its foliage in milder climates. The leaves are glossy, delicate, and dark green with an alternating leaf arrangement. The foliage turns a yellowish-brown before falling from the tree in cold weather. It has inconspicuous flowers in late summer followed by decorative green fruit. The Chinese elm has beautiful grayish-green, mottled bark that sheds with age, displaying varying colors. Use it as a single- or multiple-trunk tree and give it plenty of water for fast growth. It has many traits that make it a great landscape tree, producing a dense canopy of foliage that creates a graceful appearance. Use it as a specimen, residential shade, or street tree, in parking lots, or in a large patio area. It is a great reclamation plant or transition plant between the lush landscape and the desert. Chinese elm is native to China, Korea, and Japan.

Chaste tree grows quite well in Southern Arizona, though it has its origins in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean. Very shrub-like and naturally multi-trunked, it can be trained to grow as a small tree eventually reaching a mature size of 20 feet tall with a 20 foot spread. The deciduous, aromatic foliage consists of compound, lance-shaped leaves that are a grey-green color above and silvery on the underside. Long, narrow spikes of purple flowers appear in late spring and early summer. The most common flower color is purple. However, certain hybrids have deep blue, white or pink flowers. According to legend, chaste tree was used by medieval monks who found that chewing its leaves helped them maintain their vows of celibacy. This explains the name of this lovely ornamental tree.