BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Thamnosma montana | Mojave Desertrue 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Mojave desertrue is a native, long-lived, profusely branched, deciduous,
perennial shrub 1 to 2.5 feet (30-80 cm) tall [3,22].  It has stout,
spine-tipped, broomlike branches that are thickly covered with
blisterlike glands and are leafless most of the year [6,13].  Mojave
desertrue forms new branches from the root crown, resulting in multiple
stems arising from the ground [6,9].  The leaves are 0.16 to 0.6 inch
(4-15 mm) long and 0.04 inch (1 mm) wide [3,22].  The flowers are in
small cymose or racemose clusters [15].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Mojave desertrue reproduces by seed.  The flowers are animal pollinated
and the fruit is dispersed by animals [19].  The fruit is a capsule
containing one to three seeds [22,30].  The ability of Mojave desertrue
to reproduce vegetatively was not specifically described in the
literature.  However, since it branches fron the root crown, Mojave
desertrue may be able to sprout after top-kill.


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Mojave desertrue is commonly found on sunny, dry, rocky, or gravelly
slopes and mesas. [3,22,26].  It occurs at the following elevations:

Arizona - 4,500 feet (1,371 m) and lower [15]
California - 5,500 feet (1,676) and lower [18]
Utah - 2,316 to 4,265 feet (760-1,300 m) [30].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Mojave desertrue is present in most stages of succession.  Wells [32]
described it as a pioneer shrub typically found in disturbed areas such
as drainageways and actively eroded bedrock areas.  Others have reported
that Mojave desertrue is a long-lived shrub, present in later stages of
desert succession [27,28].  On a sandy bajada in California, Mojave
desertrue was one of the most common species found in an old, stable
creosotebush scrub community [27].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Mojave desertrue flowers in the spring at the same time new vegetative
shoots are being initiated [9,15,18].  It flowers from February through
April in Arizona, and from March through May in California [15,18].
Mojave desertrue leaves are deciduous and are shed soon after flowering
[3], but the twigs often remain green for 3 to 5 years [9,22].

Related categories for Species: Thamnosma montana | Mojave Desertrue