Recommended for your garden in the south of Spain: Cordia boissieri

This heat and drought resistant small, evergreen tree or large shrub is an attractive addition to the garden or patio all year around

Denise Bush

Malaga

Friday, 27 September 2024, 12:34

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The Texas or Mexican olive, botanical name Cordia boissieri, is, as the name suggests, native to southern Texas and Mexico. However the description 'olive' is misleading, it is not related to true olives but belongs to the borage family, Boraginaceae.

This heat and drought resistant small, evergreen tree or large shrub is an attractive addition to the garden or patio all year around. It has slightly fuzzy, grey-green ovate leaves up to 12cm long. The dense vegetation and rounded crown give welcome shade during the summer.

In spring, fuzzy, dark-brown or maroon buds appear which develop into stunning rhododendron-like flowers. The blooms, which are white with yellow throats and measure about 5cm across, attract lots of butterflies and pollinating insects. With some moderate watering, Cordia boissieri will continue to flower until mid-autumn or when the colder weather arrives.

After flowering has finished, and this can cause a mess as the spent blooms will fall to the ground, the small 'olives' form. Eaten raw they can be mildly toxic however, in Mexico, the fruits are cooked to make a jelly which is used to treat colds and coughs. An extract of the leaves is used to relieve chest complaints and rheumatism.

Once established, the Texas olive is drought and heat resistant but it will not withstand frosts. A mature tree can reach nine metres tall in ideal situations but is more likely to be around five metres. Regular pruning will help to keep it compact and a good shape and it can also be kept small enough to grow in a large container if there isn't enough room for a full-grown tree. Too severe pruning will reduce the amount of flowers.

Propagation is easiest using cuttings of semi-hardwood although new plants can also be raised from seed.

The genus is named after German botanist Valerius Cordus and the specific epithet is after the Swiss botanist Pierre Edmond Boissier.

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