Julian Sauls' Texas Red Oaks

This seedling is a Texas Red Oak or Quercus shumardii cv texana.   Dr. Julian Sauls and one of his co-workers has been breeding this tree since the 1970s.   They are choosing characteristics that will perform well in the Rio Grande Valley.  

The original selection was from a wild tree somewhere near Breckinridge - that trees location is no longer known.  Seed from the Breckenridge tree were planted in Arlington, Texas in the mid 70s.  Then seed from the Arlington tree were planted in Tyler in the late 70s.  These seedlings came from the Tyler tree.  Unfortunately the Arlington plantings were lost to urban development quite a few years ago.

Dr. Sauls was generous enough to give a number of seedlings to the Cameron County Master Gardeners a few months ago.  It's time to bump them up to a larger container.     In a few years, one should be large enough to transplant into The Arboretum.    Hopefully, we'll have another tree that will perform well in our area!