Mexican Buckeye

Ungnadia speciosa

Hills guide picknative · Hill Countrysold locallytoxic

Mexican Buckeye is a small tree native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 12–20 ft tall and 12–20 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms pink in Mar–Jun. Deer rarely browse it. Good for butterflies.

Toxic — people, pets. Seeds are toxic despite the common name Mexican buckeye — children have been poisoned by the sweet-tasting seeds.

Will it grow in your yard?

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From our guide

Village of the Hills

Multi-trunked large shrub with fragrant pink flowers in early spring followed by distinctive three-lobed seed pods that persist into winter.

Why it works here

Early nectar, excellent understory scale, and thrives on limestone with no supplemental water.

Watch out

Seeds are poisonous to humans. Bare and twiggy in winter — site it where that reads as structure, not neglect.

The facts

8 sources

Type: Small tree
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Low
Height: 12–20 ft
Spread: 12–20 ft
Bloom: Mar–Jun · pink
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on caliche, clay, dry, limestone, loam, rocky, sand, well drained
Deer: High — deer rarely browse it. Toxic seeds; foliage ignored
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

3,620 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, 5, 10, 30 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.