Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora)
Mountain laurel is a native, warm-season shrub or small tree that is found frequently on limestone sites throughout much of Central Texas, West Texas, southern New Mexico and Mexico. It is commonly found growing in association with the juniper and oaks of the Edwards Plateau.
- Seldom reaches a height of more than 10 feet, but can reach up to 30 feet on good sites.
- Has a very aromatic, showy purple flower that resembles a pea flower.
- Blossoms are seen from February through April and smell like grapes.
- Is a part of the legume family; has a grayish 3-to-5-inch seedpod containing up to 8 bright orange to red very hard seeds that ripen in the fall. The seeds resemble jellybeans.
- Has very shiny, dark green, compound 1-to-2-inch leaflets with 5 to 13 leaflets that are paired with one terminal end leaflet.
- Has been and continues to be used in home landscapes as a popular ornamental plant, due to its drought tolerance and showy purple flowers.
Mountain laurel leaves and fruit are very toxic to livestock and humans because they contain a powerful alkaloid. Poisoning can be avoided by always providing adequate forage for grazing animals and educating landowners on the hazards of the plant.
North American Native Indians once used mountain laurel seeds as a powerful hallucinogen; it is also known as Mescal Bean for this reason. The seeds were also used to make a weak whiskey called mescal liquor, but drinking too much led to sickness and death.
The plant’s purple flowers are utilized during the spring by many pollinator species, such as the orange sulphur butterfly.
Mountain laurel can become a problem on grazing lands but can be controlled by properly timed herbicide treatment or mechanical methods. ❚
Editor’s note: Kent Ferguson, retired rangeland management specialist from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is providing us with plant identification photo stories to help ranchers identify those forbs, forages and species growing in the pastures. Additional photos provided by USDA NRCS.
Mountain Laurel is excerpted from the April 2017 issue of The Cattleman magazine.