Ungnadia Speciosa, Mexican Buckeye

Ungnadia speciosa is a tree or shrub, the only species of a monotypic genus, found in southern New Mexico and west Texas, and, most strongly, in central Texas. The long stalked leaves are pinnately divided into two to four pairs of lateral leaflets and a terminal leaflet; leaflets are hairless, rounded at the base and pointed at the tip, with entire or shallowly toothed margins. Leaves are dark green above, paler below, and become yellow as they start to wither, in the fall.

Plants usually bloom before the leaves appear. Flowers have a bell-shaped calyx, the (five) lobes reddish, narrowly lanceolate in shape, and a pink, five-lobed corolla. Corolla lobes are obovate, faintly irregular along the margins. Fruits are woody capsules, three-lobed, splitting to reveal the seeds. The capsules remain on the plant well into the next year.