#dermatophyllum

[crudlynaturephotos]

[michael-massa-micon]

Texas Mountain Laurel - March 2024

I was riding my bicycle at Fiesta Grade RV Park when I saw this tree with beautiful, but weird, purple flowers. I took several images of it and finally found it on the internet. It is a Texas Mountain Laurel (Dermatophyllum secundiflorum), and the weird, flat, waxy flowers are called Grape Bubblegum Flowers. There was a slight smell of grape near the tree, so the name must be more than just appearance. MWM

[arborholic]

I'm a sucker for wooded trails. Whether through a "traditional" forest or an urban forest like this one.

Deciduous holly (Ilex decidua), Mexican plum (Prunus mexicana), and Texas mountain laurel (Dermatophyllum secundiflorum) line this section of trail.

[desertdac]

1/7/20 Chihuahuan Desert streetscape It’s great living near a landscape design of mine using mostly native plants. Only the gray shrub Leucophyllum zygophyllum ‘Cimarron’ occurs beyond my criteria, “A native plant is a naturally-occurring species found within 1,000 feet elevation / 200 mile radius / same or adjacent ecoregion” of the site.

If this design were in ABQ, 4/7 plants visible are native. Here, 6/7 plants are native.

[conspectusargosy]

Dermatophyllum secundiflorum is a shrub or small tree native to parts of Texas and a fairly large portion of Mexico. It is frequently used as an ornamental plant, appreciated for its showy and particularly fragrant flowers which hang in clumps similar to Wisteria. Both the leaves and the flower structure are thickish with the flowers having a velvety surface. The brightly-colored seeds are one of the appreciated attributes of this plant, and are can be used to determine how much scarification would be necessary to germinate the seed. Due to the hard seed coat, the seeds can lay dormant for many years before germinating. After germination, the cotyledons remain underground, nourishing a deep taproot and the first sign of germination is when true leaves break the surface of the soil. This plant (as well as other members of Fabaceae) contain an alkaloid called Cytisine which has been used in drugs for over 40 years as an aid to quit smoking tobacco. Native Americans were known to use the seeds as jewelry as well as for spiritual ceremonies making use of the psychoactive alkaloids.

[syngoniums]

After a concerningly warm January (no freezes!), and a random dusting of snow last week that was flanked by tshirt weather on both sides, the true harbingers of spring, Dermatophyllum secundiflorum, are blooming. Hopefully winter won't decide to show up at the last minute and blast them.

[fatchance]

Texas mountain laurel (Dermatophyllum secundiflorum), Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona. 

This shrub is widely planted here as an ornamental. Its blossoms smell unmistakably like grape soda. 

[thegrandimago]

Taken the same day as the previous post, this was a Texas mountain laurel (Dermatophyllum secundiflorum). They are native to the southwestern United States and Mexico wherever there are rocky limestone soils. They bloom during the March-April producing drooping bluish-lavender flower clusters that are very fragrant, described as having a fragrance similar to grape soda. Afterwards, they fruit into semi-woody seed pods like the ones shown here. These pods hold lacquer red seeds that are poisonous enough to kill an adult since they contain the alkaloid cytisine. However, these seeds were valued by some indigenous peoples who used them for ceremonial purposes as a hallucinogen, before being replaced by peyote, and for ornamental purposes. #plant #plants #tree #trees #wildflowers #wildflower #texasplants #texasplant #txplants #txnature #shrub #shrubs #frijolito #frijolitos #texasnativeplants #texasnature #nature #flora #plantae #angiosperms #vascularplant #tracheophyta #asterids #eudicots #fabales #fabaceae #dermatophyllum #dermatophyllumsecundiflorum #texasmountainlaurel (at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/CklRqSbKTYw/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[gardeningworld]

Texas Mountain laurel (Dermatophyllum secundiflorum) has other names also such as Texas mescalbean, frijolillo, and frijolito. It is a species of a small tree or flowering shrub in the Fabaceae (pea) family. This tree is native to the southwestern United States (New Mexico, Texas) and Mexico (Coahuila and Chihuahua).

[warcrimesimulator]

it’s that time of the year! my favorite flowers are blooming and they smell GOOD. If you have never smelled  Texas mountain laurel (Dermatophyllum secundiflorum), according to Wikipedia, it smells like grape soda. that’s not how I’d personally describe it tho tbh

[crudlynaturephotos]

[crudlynaturephotos]

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[crudlynaturephotos]