Common Name: JOJOBA FAMILY Habit: Shrub, evergreen, much-branched; dioecious. Stem: bark smooth. Leaf: opposite, simple, leathery; base jointed; stipules 0. Inflorescence: staminate flowers in axillary clusters, pistillate generally 1. Flower: small, radial; sepals generally 5, overlapped, becoming larger in pistillate, disk 0; corolla 0; stamens 8--12, free, anthers elongate with longitudinal slits; ovary superior, chambers 3, styles 3, stigmas long, +- not persistent in fruit. Fruit: capsule, loculicidal. Seed: 1. Genera In Family: 1 genus, 1 sp.: southwestern United States, Mexico. Note: Recently shown (e.g., Carlquist 2002) to be not closely related to Buxaceae, in which it was sometimes placed; 2° growth unusual, produced by successive cambia. eFlora Treatment Author: Robert E. Preston & William J. Stone Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Etymology: (T.W. Simmonds, English botanist, died exploring Trinidad, 1767--1804)
Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C.K. Schneid.
NATIVE Habit: Hairs short, dense, appressed, less dense in age. Stem: 1--2 m; new growth +- hairy; branches stiff. Leaf: 2--4 cm, oblong-ovate, dull green, subsessile. Inflorescence: peduncle 3--10 mm. Flower: staminate sepals 3--4 mm, +- green, pistillate 10--20 mm in age; anthers yellow. Fruit: +- 1--2.5 cm, nut-like, ovoid, tough, leathery, obtusely 3-angled. Seed: large, including liquid wax. Chromosomes: 2n=26. Ecology: Creosote-bush scrub, desert wash scrub, chaparral, coastal scrub; Elevation: < 1350 m. Bioregional Distribution: s SCo, PR, s DMoj, DSon; Distribution Outside California: northern Mexico. Flowering Time: Generally Mar--May Note: Important as forage pl; seed wax a substitute for sperm whale oil; fruit edible. Synonyms: Buxus chinensis Link; Simmondsia californica Nutt. Jepson eFlora Author: Robert E. Preston & William J. Stone Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Simmondsia Next taxon: Solanaceae
Botanical illustration including Simmondsia chinensis
Citation for this treatment: Robert E. Preston & William J. Stone 2012, Simmondsia chinensis, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=44601, accessed on April 16, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 16, 2024.
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).
Data provided by the participants of the
Consortium of California Herbaria.
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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
