Koeberlinia spinosa var. tenuispina

Slender-spined all thorn, Slender-Spined All Thorn

Family: Koeberliniaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Slender-spined all thorn is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native shrub found in the Chocolate Mountains in creosote-bush scrub at an elevation of 400 meters. Flowering from March to July, this plant produces delicate white flowers occasionally tinged with yellow. Growing 3 to 10 meters tall with pale green branchlets ending in narrow, sharp-pointed black or dark brown tips, it forms a distinctive spiny structure. Its leaves are extremely reduced, measuring less than 2 millimeters long, which gives the plant its characteristic all-thorn appearance. The fruit is small and glossy black, measuring 4 to 5 millimeters in diameter.

Habitat: Creosote-bush scrub

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: 400 m

Bioregions: DSon (Chocolate Mtns)

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.