Desert Ironwood, Olneya tesota

About Desert Ironwood (Olneya tesota) 6 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Olneya tesota is a perennial flowering tree of the Fabaceae family, legumes (peas, beans, etc), which is commonly known as Ironwood or Desert Ironwood. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Olneya. This tree is part of the western Sonoran Desert complex in the Southwestern United States, which includes flora such as palo verde, saguaro, ocotillo, brittlebush, creosote bush, and mesquite. The Desert Ironwood grows as a bush or tree and reaches heights of about 10 meters (33 feet), and average trunk diameters of about 60 centimeter (24 inches); in exceptional sites in larger protected washes, greater height and more massive.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Tree

Size

20 - 32.8 ft tall

Form

Rounded

Growth Rate

Slow

Flower Color

Purple

Flowering Season

Spring

Wildlife Supported

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1 confirmed

, 2 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Funereal Duskywing Erynnis funeralisErynnis funeralis

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Glaucina eupetheciariaGlaucina eupetheciaria

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun

Moisture

Low

Nurseries

Carried by 6

Ease of Care

Moderately Easy

Soil Drainage

Fast

Soil Description

Adaptable, tolerant of sand, loam and clay

Common uses

Butterfly Gardens

Propagation?

For propagating by seed: Fresh seeds need no treatment; soaking in water 12-24 hrs. may improve germination. Stored seeds soak in water 24-36 hrs.; scarification before soaking may improve germination. Seedlings damp-off readily (USDA Forest Service 1974).

Sunset Zones?

8, 9, 10, 11, 12*, 13*, 14, 19, 21, 23

Natural Setting

Site Type

Washes

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 2.9" - 7.9", Summer Precipitation: 0.41" - 1.90", Coldest Month: 47.8" - 63.5", Hottest Month: 77.2" - 89.3", Humidity: 3.67" - 41.03", Elevation: -213" - 3038"

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Desert Ironwood

Olneya tesota

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Desert IronwoodOlneya tesota

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Desert Ironwood

Olneya tesota