Little Leaf Cordia

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Little-Leaf Cordia
when the summer rains arrive it's hard not to notice the prolific, small white blooms of the Little-leaf cordia, Cordia parvifolia. They're abundant both on the plant and often under the shrub where they have fallen.

If left to grow in its natural form the shrub will spread and grow to eight feet tall with an intricate network of spreading branches. In many landscape you'll see the Little-leaf's growth controlled by pruning. By shearing the plant the height and width are controlled causing it to become more compact filling in the branches much as you see done with constantly pruned Texas ranger, Leucophyllum frutescens.

Allowed to grow without much pruning this little-leaf cordia is spreading out behind the agave plants.
Little-leaf cordia blooms and buds.

My preference is to let the plant grow naturally with occasional selective pruning of single branches to control the height or width and to fill in unwanted bare spots. As for the spring and summer flowering the plant can produce a carpet of white litter that may need to be maintained for the manicured look. In my landscape, I have found the local cottontail rabbits to favor the small blooms as a food source and are quick to remove them from the ground eliminating the need for raking.

Verdin looking for insects on little-leaf cordia.

The shrubs will grow in full sun to partial shade and require well drained soil. Although drought tolerant the plants will produce the best foliage and small showy flowers with more frequent water. The shrubs will also lose many of their leaves when subjected to frost. (2009)