Central Texas Tree Field Guide

The trees we plant in Central Texas. Search by any name — common, Latin or the one on the nursery tag — or filter by the job you want the tree to do.

Tree	Latin name	Native	Height*	Spread	Lifespan*	Good for
Althea	Hibiscus syriacus	Not native	12 ft	normal	50 yrs	Ornamental
American smoke tree	Cotinus obovatus	Central Texas	12 ft	normal	30 yrs	Ornamental
Anacacho orchid tree	Bauhinia lunarioides	Central Texas	15 ft	wide	40 yrs	Ornamental
Arizona ash	Fraxinus velutina	—	—	—	—	We don't plant this
Arizona cypress	Hesperocyparis arizonica	Texas, not here	18 ('Blue Ice') · 40 ('Carolina Sapphire') ft	upright ('Blue Ice') · normal ('Carolina Sapphire')	60 yrs	Screening
Bald cypress	Taxodium distichum	Central Texas	80 ft	normal	600+ yrs	Shade
Bigtooth maple	Acer grandidentatum	Central Texas	20 ft	normal	60 yrs	Ornamental
Bradford pear	Pyrus calleryana 'Bradford'	—	—	—	—	We don't plant this
Bur oak	Quercus macrocarpa	Central Texas	to 80 ft	wide	300 yrs	Shade
Cedar elm	Ulmus crassifolia	Central Texas	to 70 ft	upright	60–80 yrs	Shade
Cherry laurel	Prunus caroliniana	Central Texas	20 ft	upright	20–30 yrs	Screening
Chinese tallow	Triadica sebifera	—	—	—	—	We don't plant this
Chinquapin oak	Quercus muehlenbergii	Central Texas	to 60 ft	upright	60 yrs	Shade
Chitalpa	×Chitalpa tashkentensis	Not native	20–25 ft	wide	35 yrs	Ornamental
Crepe myrtle	Lagerstroemia indica, and L. indica × L. fauriei hybrids	Not native	2–35 ft	upright	50 yrs	Shade, Screening, Ornamental
Eastern red cedar	Juniperus virginiana	Central Texas	45–50 ft	upright	60–80 yrs	Screening
Eve's necklace	Styphnolobium affine	Central Texas	15 ft	upright	50 yrs	Ornamental
Italian cypress	Cupressus sempervirens	Not native	35 ft	upright	50 yrs	Screening
Japanese maple	Acer palmatum	Not native	15 ft	normal	40 yrs	Ornamental
Ligustrum	—	—	—	—	—	We don't plant this
Live oak (coastal)shared name	Quercus virginiana	Central Texas	50–60 ft	wide	80+ yrs	Shade, Screening
Live oak (escarpment)shared name	Quercus fusiformis	Central Texas	50–60 ft	wide	300 yrs	Shade, Screening
Mexican plum	Prunus mexicana	Central Texas	20–25 ft	normal	25 yrs	Ornamental
Mexican sycamore	Platanus mexicana	Not native	80 ft	normal	60–80 yrs	Shade
Monterrey oak	Quercus polymorpha	Texas, not here	40–60 ft	upright	—	Shade, Screening
Montezuma cypress	Taxodium mucronatum	Texas, not here	80 ft	normal	100? yrs	Shade
Pecan	Carya illinoinensis	Central Texas	80 ft	wide	250 yrs	Shade
Red oak	Quercus buckleyi	Central Texas	to 60 ft	normal	60–80 yrs	Shade
Redbud	Cercis canadensis var. texensis	Central Texas	12–20 ft	upright	20 yrs	Ornamental
Sky Pencil holly	Ilex crenata 'Sky Pencil'	Not native	25–30 ft	upright	50+ yrs	Screening
Texas mountain laurel	Dermatophyllum secundiflorum	Central Texas	12–20 ft	normal	50 yrs	Screening, Ornamental
Wax myrtle	Morella cerifera	Central Texas	12 ft	normal	20 yrs	Screening

*About these numbers

Height varies considerably with growing conditions. A tree in a river bottom grows remarkably taller than the same tree on a rocky hillside.

Spread is given as a shape rather than a number, because canopy width is decided mostly by what is growing next to the tree. The same species crowded by neighbours never spreads as wide as one standing alone in an open yard.

For large shade trees, the best rule of thumb costs nothing: look around the neighbourhood. The tallest trees you can see will approximate the height your environment will support.

Lifespans are what a tree of that species can reasonably be expected to give you here — not a guarantee. Luck, weather years and what happens around the roots all move the number.

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