Ziziphus obtusifolia
Family: Rhamnaceae
Plant Description: Spine-tipped deciduous shrub to 2.7 m high with a vertical line on young branches. Leaves ovate to ovate-oblong, 1-2.5 cm long, with a grayish cast, alternate. Flowers in axillary clusters, the petals 1-1.5 cm long, greenish yellow. Fruits about 1 cm wide, black.
Plant Trivia:
Field Identification: Spiny tipped stems, leaves sparce in summer; stems often with longitudinal streaking on gray bark.
Occurrence: Common on various soils, brushy pastures.
Bloom Period:
Plant Use: Fruit occasionally eaten by gray fox, raccoon, coyote, and chachalaca; leaves occasionally browsed by White-tailed Deer.
Key to the species of Ziziphus:
- Flowers 4-5 mm wide, branches spine-tipped…………….Z. obtusifolia
Flowers about 7 mm wide, spines axillary…………………………Z. zizyphus
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