Cascalote
Tara cacalaco
Family: Fabaceae
CHARACTERISTICS
Small, evergreen, flowering tree, 15-20’h&w. Yellow flowers appear in winter followed by legume pods. Cool-looking Hershey Kiss-like thorns appear on trunk and large stems.
There is a thornless variety—we are vehemently against selling this. The amazing thorns is the greatest feature of this plant.
LANDSCAPE USE
Small specimen tree.
Photo by Mountain States Wholesale Nursery
Tara cacalaco on iNaturalist
GROWING CONDITIONS
AN EXPLANAITION OF TERMS USED
SUN full to part, can take reflected heat too
WATER low to moderate water
SOIL tolerant of most soils
HARDINESS hardy to 20°F
BASIN middle to high
CONTAINER does ok in a container
NUTRITION low
MAINTENANCE very little
ECOLOGY
Yellow flowers appear in winter and attract hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and other nectar-seeking insects. Of special value since they bloom in winter when there are less plants blooming.
ETHNOBOTANY
Cascalote is an excellent source of phenolics such as gallic and tannic acids used in the Mexican tannery industry
NATURAL DISTRIBUTION
Native to desert plains and foothills in central to southern Mexico.
TAXONOMY AND NAME
This species is in the Fabaceae, the legume family. There are three species of Tara.
Formerly known as Caesalpinia cacalaco.
The genus name Tara is derived from the vernacular name ‘tara’ in Peru, Bolivia and Chile. The species name cacalaco is probably a latinization of cascalote, derived from Nahuatl nacazcolotl, literally, twisted ear, from nacaztli ear + colotl twisted.
The spines eventually grow corky and dull creating an incredible texture on the trunk. Photo by Akos Kokai, wikipedia
Flowers occur in winter! Flower detail photo by Tereso Hernández Morales, iNaturtalist
These pods are developing, they will become woody and drop. Photo by J. Fernando Pío León, iNaturalist
Sometimes cascalote plants host a Psyllid, which attract insectivorous birds. They might, at worst, defoliate the plant temporarily, but they don't cause any lasting harm. Best to leave it alone and just focus on proper watering for the plant. Photo by Ángela Patricia Rojas Cortés, iNaturalist