Eve's Necklace

Styphnolobium affine

Hills guide picknative · Hill Countrysold locally

Eve's Necklace is a small tree native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 15–20 ft tall and 10–20 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and very low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms white and pink in Mar–May. Deer rarely browse it. Good for bees, birds and nectar insects.

Will it grow in your yard?

Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Eve's Necklace against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.

From our guide

Village of the Hills

Small tree with fine compound leaves, pink wisteria-like flowers, and distinctive black seedpods constricted like a string of beads.

Why it works here

Native, small-scale, and the seedpods give winter interest nothing else provides. Handles part shade under bigger trees.

Watch out

Seeds are toxic. Somewhat brittle in high wind.

The facts

8 sources

Type: Small tree
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Very low
Height: 15–20 ft
Spread: 10–20 ft
Bloom: Mar–May · white, pink
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on clay, dry, limestone, loam, sand, well drained
Deer: High — deer rarely browse it. Toxic seeds and foliage deer avoid.
Wildlife: Supports bees, birds, browsing mammals and nectar insects

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

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

Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesSan Antonio Prairie

1,115 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Sold at local nurseries. Confirmed in stock at a Central Texas grower in these sizes:

2.5–4.5 inch pots1, 3, 5, 7, 30, 45 gallon

From the growers we read so far — a short list, not the whole trade. Call ahead.

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.