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Leaves Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | Flower Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | | |
Origin: Native
General Description: Deciduous. Shrub or subshrub which forms a dense, erect clump of many thin, branching, thorny stems approaching 6-1/2 feet in maximum height. The wood is said to contain a small amount of oil.
Identification notes: A low growing shrub with many densely overlapping spine-tipped branches; leaves and young twigs appear slightly waxy and grayish-green; flower petals white, deciduous; red (sometimes white) persistent glandular flower stem bases.
Height: 6-1/2 feet Width: 3 to 4 feet
Habitat Description: Found on limestone in canyons, on hillsides and cliffs in desert scrub, grasslands, chaparral and juniper woodlands.
Plant Communities: Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland
Elevation: 3500 - 6500 feet
Color: White Shape: Regular, not in clusters
Tubular: N Flowering Period: Mar - Jun
Description: Solitary in leaf axils, on short stems; sepals 5, white, short, with papery margins; petals 5, white, narrow and oblong.
Leaf Color: Green Type: Simple Shape: Round or oval Margin: Smooth Attachment: Alternate Hairs: N
Description: Leaves simple, small and narrower at their base, typically appearing when the plant begins flowering.
Color: Brown Type: Capsule Description: Small oval seed capsules contain tiny seeds. Called follicles, seed pods split open along 1 suture line.
Bark Color: Brown to green Bark Texture (Mature): Smooth Bark and Branch Description: Stems are woody at base, turning into greenish thorny branchlets.
Spines, thorns or prickles: Y |
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