Plant: shrubs or small trees; rigid, intricately branched, to 5 m tall; branchlets all spinose; young parts densely puberulent

Leaves: SEEDLING LEAVES linear to lanceolate, 1-1.5 cm long; ADULT LEAVES reduced to scales less that 1 mm long, deciduous early

INFLORESCENCE: STAMINATE INFLORESCENCE a simple, spikelike, stiff panicle 0.5-12 cm long; PISTILLATE INFLORESCENCE a much-branched, conical, crowded, stiff panicle, 1-10 cm long

Flowers: 3-7 mm in diam., (5-)6-8-merous; sepals deltoid, 1-2.5 mm long; petals oblong to ovate-oblong, 2-3.5 mm long; stamens with pubescent filaments, the anthers of pistillate flowers sterile and reduced

Fruit: red to green, tan, or brown, turning black with time, sometimes persisting for years, often densely packed in clusters 10-25 cm long; carpels ovoid but compressed laterally, 6-8 mm long, 5-6 mm wide, 4-8 per flower

Misc: Sonoran Desert plains and dry washes, never abundant; 150-700 m (500-2300 ft); Jun-Jul

REFERENCES: Brasher, Jeffrey W. 1999. Simaroubaceae. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. 32(1).

Common Name: crucifixion thorn

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Tree

Synonyms: None