Eve's Necklace (Styphnolobium affine)

Styphnolobium affine (Torr. & A. Gray) Walp.

Eve's Necklace, Eve's Necklacepod, Texas Sophora, Pink Sophora, Necklace Tree

Fabaceae (Pea Family)

Synonym(s): Sophora affinis

USDA Symbol: staf4

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

Eves necklace, a 15-30 ft., spineless shrub or tree, bears light-green, graceful leaflets and fragrant, pink, wisteria-like blooms. A tall shrub or small tree with thin, scaly, reddish brown bark on older wood and with smooth twigs. On limestone slopes, in valley bottoms, and on soils underlain with limestone in upland situations. Seeds reputed to be poisonous. Leaves divided into 6 to 8 pairs of leaflets and a terminal one on an axis up to 9 inches long, leaflets elliptic to oval, averaging an inch long, with a rounded, indented, or pointed tip, smooth margins, and a rounded or tapered base. Flowers fragrant, white tinged with rose, 1/2 inch long, arranged along axes up to 6 inches long, appearing in March and April. Fruit a long, rounded pod, constricted between the seeds, often with only 1 or a few seeds, the swollen part of the pod black, and the constrictions covered with gray hairs.

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Tree
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Complexity: Pinnate
Inflorescence: Raceme
Fruit Type: Legume
Size Notes: Up to about 30 feet tall, often shorter.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White , Pink
Bloom Time: Mar , Apr , May

Distribution

USA: AR , LA , OK , TX
Native Distribution: OK, AR, LA & n.c. & c. TX
Native Habitat: Roadsides, Prairie, Plains, Meadows, Pastures, Savannas, Open woodlands

Growing Conditions

Water Use: Low
Light Requirement: Part Shade
Soil Moisture: Dry
Soil Description: Well-drained soils. Sandy, Sandy Loam, Medium Loam, Clay Loam, Clay, Limestone-based.
Conditions Comments: Eve's necklace is so named because this tree blooms clustered pink flowers that mature into black, bead-like strings of seeds. The planting site must be well-drained or it will get chlorotic. It grows from seed to 6 ft. in 3 years. This plant is most attractive when grown alone, as it becomes spindly in competition from larger plants. The flowers and seeds ar poisonous.

Benefit

Use Ornamental: Aromatic, Attractive, Blooms ornamental, Fruits ornamental, Accent shrub, Showy, Accent tree or shrub
Use Wildlife: Flowers attact bees. Nesting site, Cover, Browse, Nectar-insects
Conspicuous Flowers: yes
Deer Resistant: Moderate