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Useful Temperate Plants

Tetradymia spinosa

Hook. & Arn.

Asteraceae

+ Synonyms

Common Name: Spiny Horsebrush

No Image.

General Information

Tetradymia spinosa is a deciduous perennial plant with stems that become more or less woody. Growing from a woody rootstock and producing rhizomes up to 30cm long, the plant produces one or more erect, very spiny, much-branched stems 10 - 100cm tall, often forming a small colony[
270
Title
Flora of N. America
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
,
277
Title
Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet
Publisher
United States Department of Agriculture
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
]. The spines on the typical variety are 5 - 15mm long, but in the variety longispina they can be up to 50mm long[
1050
Title
Fire Effects Information System
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants
].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local medicinal use.

Known Hazards

Toxicity of this species is low[
1050
Title
Fire Effects Information System
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants
], though in general all species of Tetradymia should be considered toxic to grazing animals[
277
Title
Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet
Publisher
United States Department of Agriculture
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
]. Symptoms include swollen, engorged liver with severe fatty changes and low grade nephritis (inflammation of nephrons) of the kidney along with haemorrhaging of the sub-skin and organ linings. Abortions may also occur[
277
Title
Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet
Publisher
United States Department of Agriculture
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
].

Botanical References

270
Title
Flora of N. America
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.

Range

Western N. America - Oregon to Montana, south to California and New Mexico

Habitat

Usually sandy soils of alkali sinks, shadscale scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands; at elevations from 800 - 2,400 metres[
270
Title
Flora of N. America
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
].

Properties

Medicinal Rating *  *
Other Uses Rating *  *
HabitDeciduous Shrub
Height0.60 m
PollinatorsBees, Lepidoptera, Insects
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details

Tetradymia spinosa is native to the semi-arid regions of southwestern N. America, growing in areas where the mean annual precipitation ranges from 200 - 350mm[
277
Title
Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet
Publisher
United States Department of Agriculture
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
]. Summer temperatures can often exceed 40°c and winters can be cool to cold[
1050
Title
Fire Effects Information System
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants
].
The plant grows in the wild on shallow to deep soils with clay and loam textures and a pH in the range 6.5 - 8.2[
277
Title
Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet
Publisher
United States Department of Agriculture
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
]. Established plants are very drought tolerant, shedding their leaves in times of stress[
1050
Title
Fire Effects Information System
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants
].
Plants are usually top-killed by fire, but resprout freely from the roots afterwards[
1050
Title
Fire Effects Information System
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants
].

Edible Uses

A decoction of the plant is used as an external medicine[
277
Title
Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet
Publisher
United States Department of Agriculture
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
]. No more information is given.

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

Within its native range, spiny horsebrush helps stabilize soil on erodible desert sites and provides critically needed ground cover on dry sites that are otherwise often sparsely vegetated[
1050
Title
Fire Effects Information System
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.feis-crs.org/feis/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An on-line information site with comprehensive information on over 1,100 species of plant. Mainly developed to supply information on the effects of fire on plants and animals, it also contains a wealth of other information on the plants
].

Other Uses

The sharp spines were used as piercing instruments[
277
Title
Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet
Publisher
United States Department of Agriculture
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
].

Propagation

Seed - it probably benefits from 4 - 6 weeks of pre-chilling prior to sowing[
277
Title
Plants Database
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet
Publisher
United States Department of Agriculture
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
]. Sow seed in containers in a light position - it should be only lightly covered with soil, but care should be taken to make sure the soil is not overwatered, nor does it dry out. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle and grow on until large enough to plant out.
Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2024-03-29. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Tetradymia+spinosa>

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