Goldenball Leadtree

Leucaena retusa

Hills guide picknative · Hill Country

Goldenball Leadtree is a small tree native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 12–20 ft tall and 12–15 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and very low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms yellow in early spring. Good for nectar insects.

Will it grow in your yard?

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From our guide

Village of the Hills

Open airy small tree with delicate foliage and bright yellow puffball flowers after rain.

Why it works here

Blooms repeatedly through the season whenever it rains, and asks for nothing on caliche.

Watch out

Brittle wood — site it out of the wind. Reseeds moderately.

The facts

7 sources

Type: Small tree
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Very low
Height: 12–20 ft
Spread: 12–15 ft
Bloom: Early Spring · yellow
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on clay, dry, limestone, loam, rocky, sand, well drained
Deer: Moderate — deer may browse it, especially new growth. New growth browsed in dry years, and it regrows quickly.
Wildlife: Supports browsing mammals, deer 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 CanyonlandsEdwards Plateau Woodland

330 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.

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.