Knockaway facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Knockaway |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Ehretia
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| Species: |
anacua
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| Natural range | |
| Synonyms | |
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Ehretia elliptica DC. |
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Ehretia anacua is a medium-sized tree. You can find it in eastern Mexico and southern Texas in the United States. It belongs to the borage family, called Boraginaceae. One of its common names is anacua. This name comes from the Mexican Spanish word anacahuite. A related tree, Cordia boissieri, is also called anacahuita. The word anacahuite comes from older words meaning "paper" and "tree." This might be because of how its bark looks or feels. People also call this tree knockaway (a changed version of anacua) or sandpaper tree. You might also see its name spelled as anaqua or anachua.
Contents
What the Anacua Tree Looks Like
The Anacua tree can grow to be about 6 to 14 meters (20 to 45 feet) tall. Its trunk can be about 0.3 meters (1 foot) wide. It often grows many trunks or sends up new shoots from its roots.
Bark and Leaves
The tree's bark is reddish-brown to gray. It has narrow grooves and scales that peel off. The dark green leaves are about 3 to 8 centimeters (1 to 3 inches) long. They are also 2 to 4 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) wide. The leaves are shaped like an oval or egg. Their top surfaces feel very rough, almost like low-grade sandpaper. The Anacua is a partial evergreen tree. This means it replaces some of its leaves in early spring, but not all at once.
Flowers and Fruit
Many white flowers grow in clusters at the ends of the branches. These clusters are called panicles or cymes. They are about 5 to 7.5 centimeters (2 to 3 inches) long. When the tree blooms from spring to summer, it looks like it's covered in snow. Each flower is about 8 millimeters (0.3 inches) wide. They have 5 petals.
The fruits are round and yellowish-orange. They are about 8 millimeters (0.3 inches) across. These fruits are called drupes. Inside, each drupe has two hard parts, and each of those parts holds two seeds. People can eat these drupes. Many mammals and birds, like the clay-colored thrush, also enjoy eating them. An Anacua tree can live for at least 50 years.
Where Anacua Trees Live
You can find Anacua trees on dry hillsides, where they often grow as shrubs. But in places with moist soil, like along rivers (riparian zones) and in areas that sometimes flood (floodplains), they can grow into full-sized trees. They can live at different heights, from sea level up to about 300 meters (1000 feet) high.
Anacua Tree and Other Living Things
The leaves of the E. anacua tree are very important. They are the only food source for a special insect called the Texas tortoise beetle (Coptocycla texana).
See also
In Spanish: Ehretia anacua para niños
