We love Eve’s Necklace for a lot of different reasons. While the botanists have changed the name to Styphnolobium affine (Torr. & A. Gray) Walp., I have such a hard time pronouncing the new name, so I’m still stuck on Sophora affinis. Eve’s Necklace is a sweet little tree that calls home the limestone soils from central Texas through north central Texas and then west to Edward’s plateau. The tree is reported to reach 35′ but most are half that. Rose to pinkish flowers are produced in early spring Wisteria-like clusters which are followed by black fruit pods that resemble a string of beads, thus the common name. The tree in seed is quite showy. Like its cousin, the Texas mountain laurel, the seeds are poisonous. Rule: Don’t graze in the landscape. In our region for best flowering the tree needs full sun and for for best survival in our region the tree needs superior drainage. Planting on a slight berm is helpful. The tree is remarkably alkaline and drought tolerant. If you can’t grow Eve’s necklace, you need to change hobbies.

A really nice pink form at SFA Gardens
One of my long term goals has been a showier Eve’s Necklace. Most flowers are kind of a washy pink. However, if you look close in central Texas, in the wild and in landscapes, there’s great variety from burgundy to almost white. Paul Cox, past Director of the San Antonio Botanical Garden, found an especially dark flower form and named it ‘Amy’. We planted out about 50 of the seedlings from that tree and have some candidates for introduction, albeit none quite as dark as the parent.

Paul Cox near the San Antonio Zoo, Mar 2013, on the hunt for the dark Eve’s Necklace

Sophora affinis ‘Amy’, a Paul Cox find in San Antonio near the Zoo

Seedlings of ‘Amy’

One of our selections

We’re a long way from being at Home Depot