Flora of North America species comparison

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Arbutus xalapensis

Texas madrone
Habit Shrubs or trees, 2–4(–8) m; bark brick red, peeling in smooth flakes over most larger limbs, retained on base of trunk on older specimens and eventually over most of oldest parts of plant, becoming gray, irregularly roughened (twigs of newly emerging shoots usually densely villous, often with mixture of glandular hairs, fully developed twigs hairy and/or glandular-hairy, or glabrate or glabrous, twig bark soon loosening and exfoliating, older twigs usually smooth, brick red or glaucous-grayish red).
Leaves

± equal in size throughout;

petiole 1.2–2.5 cm, base slightly decurrent, glabrate;

blade green or slightly lighter green abaxially, pale or bright olive-green or glaucous-green, elliptic or slightly ovate-elliptic, (2.5–)4–6(–7.5) × (1.2–)1.8–3(–4) cm, base usually tapered, rarely slightly cordate, (margins smooth or irregularly toothed on sprouts), apex acute or obtuse, surfaces glabrous or ± hairy.
Inflorescences

(often showy), varying from densely clustered or openly-branched to relatively few-flowered;

axes hairy, with both glandular and eglandular hairs intermixed.
Pedicels

accrescent, obliquely erect to pendulous, 1.6–3.2 mm, hairy, with both glandular and eglandular hairs intermixed;

bract (accrescent), clasping base, reddish or tan, scalelike, 1.3–2 mm (to 2.9–3 mm in fruit).
Flowers

calyx tan (sometimes with blush of pink), (1.8–3 mm), lobes 1–1.2 mm, apex obtuse or rounded;

corolla 5.1–5.4(–6.1) mm (the larger on rapidly developing, more open, and elongated inflorescences);

anthers ca. 1.5 mm, spurs 1/2–3/4 times length of thecae;

ovary with 2–3(–5) ovules per locule.
Berries

deep red or blackish red, 5.5–7.5 mm diam.
Seeds

2.5–3 mm.
2n

= 26.

Arbutus xalapensis
Phenology Flowering (Feb-)Mar–Apr(-May); ripe fruit appears after about 6 weeks.
Habitat Rough, stony hills, mountain slopes, calcareous ledges
Elevation 300-2200 m (1000-7200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
NM; TX; Mexico; Central America
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Arbutus xalapensis is frequent in the Edwards Plateau hill country southwest of Austin, Texas, where it is associated with junipers, oaks, and mesquite at moderate elevations. Westward, in the Chisos, Davis, and Guadalupe mountains, it occurs in the pinyon-juniper zone at higher elevations (to 2200 meters). In the Animas Mountains of Hidalgo County, southwestern New Mexico, A. xalapensis has limited contact with A. arizonica, and some herbarium specimens suggest that hybridization occurs there. Confirmation will require a more detailed analysis of those populations.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 400.
Parent taxa Ericaceae > subfam. Arbutoideae > Arbutus
Sibling taxa
A. arizonica, A. menziesii
Synonyms A. texana, A. xalapensis var. texana
Name authority Kunth: in A. von Humboldt et al., Nov. Gen. Sp. 3(fol.): 219
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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