RHAMNACEAE 



Rhamnus crocca is often called Holly though it is not related 

 to it. It is a shrub with holly-like leaves and bright red berries. 

 This is much raoro common in California than in Hog ion 8 but in cen- 

 tral Arizona about Jerome and Oak Creek and in the Baboquivari 

 Mountains, it is rather abundant. Its value as a soil binder is 

 doubtful but as an ornamental and for bird food it should rate high. 

 According to Stand ley, the berries if eaten in quantity by humans, 

 give a reddish tinge to the skin. 



Rhamnus bctulacfolia is a rather tall shrub or small tree 

 with large, bright green leaves which c oncwhat resemble elm leaves. 

 It is very widely distributed in sheltered places in the mountains 

 throughout our range, a:; well as southwest and north of us, but may 

 be considered rare at that. It may have value as an ornamental. 

 Its bark may be expected to have medicinal properties. 



*Sageretia wrightii is a very thorny shrub with recurving 

 branches which root readily, and small bright green leaves. It is 

 to be found in the foothills and canyons from west Texas to southern 1 

 Arizona and southward. It is a good erosion control plant owing to 

 its drought resistance and its layering habit. Gecd arc hard to ob- 

 tain chief lv because they arc hard to collect from so thorny a bush 

 and because they arc too highly prized by birds. The plant is worth- 

 ies s as b r ows e . 



' * C ondali a spathulata, small-leafed Jujube, is an extremely 

 rigid, spiny shrub found in western Texas to southern California on 

 very dry, reel.?/ slopes. It frequently forms small but very dense 

 thickets which are almost impenetrable to anything bigger than a 

 small bird. In the Tucson region and doubtless throughout its range 

 berries of distinctly different color are produced on different 

 plants. One bush will produce berries which are white and translu- 

 cent when ripe while an adjoining plant may produce jet black ber- 

 ries. The berries are very small but arc juicy and sweet and 

 relished by birds. In the Kofa Mountains in western Arizona a plant 

 which has been called;. £. spathu lata usually grows taller. It 

 produces berries which are very bitter. C. mexicana is a similar 

 shrub reported from southern Arizona. It is much rarer. All of 

 these are fair erosion control plants and are good for bird refuges. 

 The berries last for but a short time. 



*2izyphus lycioides, Southwestern Jujube, is related to 

 Condalia,- in fact some authors place Zizyphus in the genus Condalia. 

 It is a coarser shrub or small tree with grayish bark and leaves, 

 large thorns and black berries as large as peas. This is one of 

 the commonest shrubs in the extreme southwest. It forms thickets 

 along the bottomlands and in the canyons in the lower mountains, 

 and. is a good soil binder. It is worthless for forage but excel- 

 lent for birds as the fruits are edible and the thickets afford 

 protection. 



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