November through February is tree-planting time in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
The perfect umbrella-shaped canopy of the potato tree, Solanum erianthum, caught my eye. All the Valley nature park butterfly gardens have one, so it must be important.
I bought a small, shapely tree. Not one to accurately judge future spatial relationships, I planted an equally-sized caesalpinia, Caesalpinia Mexicana, a couple feet away.
The potato tree grew rapidly.
If you want some quick landscaping, this is the tree to get!
It grew so fast, it forced the frail caesalpinia to dramatically lean toward the ground. I tied the caesalpinia to a low branch of the Potato tree so it would grow upright through the branches and come into its own.
Year two. The potato tree took over a goodly portion of the garden. It survived a rugged pruning; thrived, even.
Year three. The potato tree is a quarterly giant Bonsai project and an entertaining focal point in the garden.
The caesalpinia, a slower grower, finally shot above it, at a slight angle, happily blooming and going to seed as it should, providing nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds.
The potato tree understory is great for our few shade-loving natives, like pigeon berry and snapdragon vine.
The tree is more entertaining than a circus. The leaves have a fine, hairy covering that give the tree its green/grayish pastel look. Their velvety texture is like stroking the soft snout of a horse.
The flowers, though not dramatic, are quite intricate. The cluster evolves into a colorful array of drupes, providing fine dining for chachalacas and other critters.
Surprisingly, the fruit is a nectar source for butterflies, like tawny and hackberry emperors.
An endless number of visitors come to the leaves. Stink bugs lay eggs and the resulting larvae provide food for lizards.
Flies, wasps, bees, bugs and a variety of butterflies and moths use the leaves as a resting place.
And seem to get drunk on the fruit.
Ants use the branches as a thoroughfare at dawn on their way to work.
The tree self-propagates from dropped fruit.
Those upstarts can easily be potted and given to someone who doesn’t have a potato tree.
I recommend scientific research over unverified Internet sources but gave the following link a look-through: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum_erianthum
What are some of your interesting potato tree stories?
Check out what can go in a hummingbird and butterfly garden with a potato tree at Anita’s Blog: “Potato tree companions.”
This a very thorough article. Great Job!! It describes the growing conditions and that will help many a Newbie Gardner. The Companion Caesalpinia is a good garden tree for its showing blooms almost all year around. It, too, is a pretty fast grower for those who want quick results for their Native Critters to feast on.
Potato trees will attract many migrating birds. Chachalaca, grosbeaks and many other birds consume the smelly, felt-like leaves. Others consume the fruit and the insects which visit.
New upstarts will arise from lateral roots, about an inch below the soil. To transplant these, cut the root near the parent tree and make a transplanting hole which will hold that cut root.
Caesalpinia is mainly visited by large black bees which ignore humans. They are the chief pollinators. Because the tree is a legume, it will enhance the soil where it grows. It will also bloom throughout the year, when moisture is available.
Christina, Glad to know the large black bees ignore humans. I have no photos of those because I keep my distance. They do certainly visit the caesalpinia.
Thanks for the tip about the potato tree propagating via lateral roots. I will pay better attention the next time I pot up an upstart to give away.