Kidneywood

Eysenhardtia texana

Hills guide picknative · Hill Countrysold locally

Kidneywood is a small tree native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 8–15 ft tall and 6–8 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and very low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms white in May–Oct. Good for butterflies.

Will it grow in your yard?

Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Kidneywood against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.

From our guide

Village of the Hills

Open, fine-textured shrub with white flower spikes that appear off and on all season, usually after rain. Foliage smells like citrus when crushed.

Why it works here

Repeat bloom through summer, heavy butterfly and bee traffic, and complete indifference to drought and limestone.

Watch out

Loose and airy rather than dense — not a privacy screen.

The facts

8 sources

Type: Small tree
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Very low
Height: 8–15 ft
Spread: 6–8 ft
Bloom: May–Oct · white
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on caliche, clay, dry, loam, sand, well drained
Deer: Moderate — deer may browse it, especially new growth. Young growth browsed
Wildlife: Supports butterflies

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 TerracesLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie

2,759 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Sold at local nurseries. A Central Texas grower lists it; sizes were not published.

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.