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Cotton Catclaw
Tetradymia axillaris
  
About Cotton Catclaw (Tetradymia axillaris) 1 Nurseries Carry This Plant Tetradymia axillaris is a flowering plant in the Asteraceae (Sunflower) family known by the common names Cotton Catclaw and Longspine Horsebrush. This is a plant of the sagebrush and desert plant communities of the southwestern United States. In California it is found from Mono County southward to Riverside County. The plant forms a sprawling thicket and is very spiny. The spine is a modified central leaf vein; the green leaves dry and their tissues fall away, leaving the veins as hard, sharp spines. When in foliage the bush has green, hairy stems and bears yellow rayless flowerheads in the axils, or angles, of the newest branches. The fruits are released in masses of cottony seed. The sharp spines were used as tattooing needles by the Kawaiisu Native Americans. This plant should be used away from traffic where the spines will not be a problem. This is a very different plant from Catclaw Acacia (Senegalia greggii) which is a legume that grows in the desert further south.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub

Size
Size
5 ft tall
5 ft wide

Dormancy
Dormancy
Summer Semi-Deciduous

Flower Color
Flower Color
Yellow, Green

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1 confirmed ) SHOW ALL
Hemileuca burnsi Image
Hemileuca burnsiHemileuca burnsi

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture
Moisture
Low

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to 0° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast

Soil Description
Soil Description
Rocky, sandy or gravelly. Soil PH: 6.0 - 8.0

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Moist places in mountains or high desert

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 2.5" - 22.3", Summer Precipitation: 0.28" - 2.85", Coldest Month: 25.8" - 59.8", Hottest Month: 55.4" - 89.5", Humidity: 1.54" - 47.01", Elevation: 82" - 9194"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Catclaw Horsebrush, Cotton-thorn, Longspine Horsebrush


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


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