Menodora scabra

Menodora scabra (formerly Menodora scoparia)[3] is broom-like shrub in the Olive Family (Oleaceae), known by the common name rough menodora or broom twinberry.[4] It is a popular desert garden plant.[4]

Rough menodora
illustration circa 1895[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Menodora
Species:
M. scabra
Binomial name
Menodora scabra
Synonyms[2]
  • Menodora scoparia Engelm. ex A.Gray in S.Watson & al.
  • Menodora laevis Wooton & Standl
  • Menodora decemfida var. longifolia Steyerm.

Range and habit

It is native to the southwestern United States (Colorado, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and California) and northern Mexico (Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Chihuahua, Sonora), where it grows in varied mountain, plateau, and desert habitat.[5][6][7]

Growth pattern

Menodora scabra is a small, multibranched subshrub producing several upright stems no more than 30 centimeters tall. It is coated in rough hairs and short, woolly fibers.

Leaves and stem

The leaves are oblong or oval, smooth along the edges, and opposite on the lower parts of the stems, becoming alternate above.[8] They are 1-3 cm long and 1-6 mm wide, the larger leaves located lower on the plant.

Flowers and fruit

The inflorescence is a loose cluster of yellow flowers at the tip of a stem branch. The flower corolla has 4 to 6 lobes with the stamens and stigma protruding from the short throat. The fruit is a capsule.[9][10][11]

Ethnobotanical uses

Native American Navajo people developed cold infusion of this plant to treat heartburn and facilitate labor for childbirth. A root decoction was used to treat spinal pain.[12]

References
  1. E. Knoblauch: Oleaceae, Salvadoraceae. In Engler, Prantl (eds.): Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien [...] IV. Teil. 2. Abteilung Leipzig, W. Engelmann
  2. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Menodora scabra
  3. Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd Ed., p. 237
  4. Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam Mackay, 2nd Ed. 2013, p. 237
  5. Biota of North America Program, Menodora scabra
  6. Gray, Asa. 1852. American Journal of Science, and Arts, ser. 2, 14(40): 44, Menodora scabra
  7. CONABIO. 2009. Catálogo taxonómico de especies de México. 1. In Capital Nat. México. CONABIO, Mexico City.
  8. "Menodora scabra". SEINet. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  9. Jepson Manual Treatment
  10. USDA Plants Profile
  11. Shreve, F. & I. L. Wiggins. 1964. Vegetation and Flora of the Sonoran Desert 2 vols. Stanford University Press, Stanford.
  12. Littlefield, Larry J.; Burns, Pearl M. (2015). Wildflowers of the Northern and Central Mountains of New Mexico: Sangre de Cristo, Jemez, Sandia, and Manzano. Albuquerque: University of new Mexico Press. p. 202. ISBN 9780826355478.
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