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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Plant Species > Shrub > Species: Ziziphus obtusifolia | Lotebush
 

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VALUE AND USE

SPECIES: Ziziphus obtusifolia | Lotebush
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : NO-ENTRY IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : The fruit of lotebush is eaten by gray foxes, raccoons, ringtails, and various birds including scaled quail, white-winged doves, band-tailed pigeons, mockingbirds, northern orioles, phainopeplas, white-necked ravens, curved-billed thrashers and golden-fronted woodpeckers [26,31,50]. The twigs are browsed by white-tailed deer but are probably not preferred [15]. Cattle browse lotebush, but it is apparently of low preference [49]. The southern plains woodrat makes extensive but not exclusive use of lotebush twigs for construction of houses, although it prefers sites closer to prickly pear (Opuntia spp.) plants [47]. Lotebush is a preferred nest site for a number of bird species [39]. PALATABILITY : The mealy drupe is edible for humans but is not palatable [50]. It is preferred by some species of birds and small mammals [31]. NUTRITIONAL VALUE : Lotebush browse is of medium food value for white-tailed deer [15]. In vitro dry matter digestibility averaged for all four seasons was 45.4 percent. Leaf crude protein as a percentage of dry weight ranged from 19 percent in May to 40 percent in March [49]. Nutritional value (as percentage of dry weight) for lotebush fruits is as follows [17]: crude protein 11 phosphorus 0.19 calcium 0.35 magnesium 0.12 potassium 1.23 sodium 0.04 COVER VALUE : Lotebush is a primary source of loafing cover in fall, winter, and spring for northern bobwhite. It is preferred in winter for its closed, spinescent canopy that provides overhead concealment and good protection from climatic extremes. Northern bobwhite use only larger lotebush plants [40]. VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : NO-ENTRY OTHER USES AND VALUES : The roots of lotebush can be used as a soap substitute and also as a treatment for wounds and sores of domestic animals [50]. Until recently, the fruits were eaten in small quantites by the Pima Indians of the Gila River region [38]. MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : On the Rolling Plains of northwestern Texas, lotebush only rarely develops into wide-ranging dense stands that require control measures, but it but can become a problem locally. Where it does occur in dense stands that impede management of livestock, Scifres and Kothmann [42] recommend thinning with individual plant treatments, either mechanical or chemical. Removal of top growth is insufficient to control lotebush. After 30 days, 90 percent of lotebush plants clipped 1 inch (2.5 cm) above the soil line had sprouted [42]. More stems per plant are produced when top growth is removed to approximately 2 inches (5 cm) above the soil than when it is removed to ground line, to below the first woody lateral shoot, or left undisturbed [19,42]. Lotebush is resistant or partially resistant to many herbicides, but is susceptible to basal sprays of picloram [8,32]. Scifres and Kothmann [42] recommend either basal applications of 2,4,5-T plus picloram, picloram pellets or dicamba granules for control of lotebush. Dodd [16] achieved effective control of lotebush by root plowing followed by raking. Other authors agree that mechanical control methods which completely uproot the plants offer more promise for control than those which only remove top growth [32,42]. These methods, however, result in poorer range conditions (more annual invaders) than chemical treatments. This can be at least partially compensated for by artificial seeding [32]. In an area of mixed brush dominated by honey mesquite (that includes lotebush), Scifres and others [41] recommend a variable rate pattern of herbicide application that could be more economical than strip-applied patterns. Such variable rate patterns can be made more site specific and take into account different brush species' susceptibility to herbicides and the particular potential of each site. This type of application also results in the patchy brush that is preferred by wildlife, particularly white-tailed deer. Management for wildlife habitat should leave large lotebush clones or individuals intact. Sprouting lotebush plants (where top growth was removed) often have a prostrate or rosette growth form that is useless to nesting birds [39].

Related categories for Species: Ziziphus obtusifolia | Lotebush

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Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System

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