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Goldenball Leadtree is a small tree or large shrub, usually about 6 to 12 feet high with multiple trunks, and light-green airy foliage.
Goldenball Leadtree (Leucaena retusa) is a legume with the acacia look, but without thorns. It is an attractive foliage plant most of the year, but during the late-spring bloom period, Goldenball Leadtree puts on numerous, bright golden-yellow globe-shaped “puffballs” about an inch across which brighten the landscape. It may also bloom intermittently through the summer after a rain. Small pods of seeds follow the blooms.
In the wild Goldenball Leadtree grows in fairly harsh conditions, in unshaded, well-drained sites in rocky, limestone areas and dry canyons. It is a Texas native found in the western part of the Edwards Plateau and the Trans Pecos area, as well as in New Mexico and northern Mexico. The University of Texas herbarium includes specimens also from the eastern margin of the Edwards Plateau in Comal, Blanco and Travis Counties. It does very well in Hill Country gardens.
It can be pruned to be a single-trunked tree if you dislike the multi-trunked form. Its fast-growing branches are thin and brittle so it benefits from pruning. It can be found in many nurseries and also grown from seed. Give it a dry location in full sun or part shade. Goldenball Leadtree needs to be caged to protect it from browsing deer.
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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: Bill Hopkins
