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Plant profile · Austin & Hill Country

Boxelder

Acer negundo
native · Hill Country

Boxelder is a tree native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 35–60 ft tall and 50 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and medium water, and handles clay soil. Blooms white in early spring. Good for birds.

Will it grow in your yard?

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The facts

6 sources
Type
Tree
Sun
Full sun to part shade (5–8 hrs of direct sun)
Water
Medium
Height
35–60 ft
Spread
50 ft
Bloom
Early Spring · white
Foliage
Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil
Takes clay · recorded on clay, loam, moist, sand
Wildlife
Supports birds

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesSan Antonio Prairie

1,950 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.