Texas Olive
Cordia boissieri
Family: Boraginaceae
OTHER NAMES
Mexican olive, white geiger and white cordia.
Spanish: Anacguita
CHARACTERISTICS
Semi-evergreen large shrub or tree, 25x25’. Blooms with large white flowers year-round but most profusely from late spring to early summer. Followed olive-like fruits that are green ripening to white and subtended by a green sheath.
Note: There are some other interesting species of Cordia in Sonora and Chihuahua that can be grown in our region, but are not yet available in the trade.
LANDSCAPE USE
Large screening shrub or small tree.
photo of Cordia boissieri by Rogelio Reyna-Hernández, iNaturalist
GROWING CONDITIONS
AN EXPLANAITION OF TERMS USED
SUN full to part sun
WATER moderate water
SOIL tolerant of most soils, good drainage a plus, some amendment
HARDINESS hardy to 20°F
BASIN middle
CONTAINER does ok in a container but will not attain full size
NUTRITION moderate
MAINTENANCE very little
ECOLOGY
Flowers attract butterflies and other pollinators. Fruits are edible with some processing (usually cooked into preserves) or eaten by birds and other animals. Cordia species have pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) which attract certain species of butterflies that use the chemical to attract mates and also coat eggs to protect from pests.
ETHNOBOTANY
The fruit is edible, probably best cooked into preserves or fermented. The consumption of raw fruits has made some feel a feeling of drunkenness after consumption.
NATURAL DISTRIBUTION
This plant’s native range extends from southern Texas in the United States south to central Mexico where it grows in a variety of habitats.
TAXONOMY AND NAME
This plant is in the Boraginaceae, the borage family. There are 404 species in the genus Cordia found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.
The name for the genus honors the 16th century German botanists Euricius Cordus and his son Valerius Cordus and the specific epithet is named for the 19th century Swiss botanist Pierre-Edmond Boissier.
Flower detail, photo by Jessica Wilson, iNaturalist
The fruits, photo by rjmendez, iNaturalist
Trunks are somewhat shaggy, photo by Arilyn McCoy, iNaturalist