About Menodora spinescens A.Gray
Menodora spinescens A.Gray is a species of flowering plant in the olive family, with the common name spiny menodora. It is native to the southwestern United States, occurring across varied mountain, canyon, and desert habitats in California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. This plant is a shrub that grows upright stems reaching up to 90 centimeters tall. It branches densely to form a thicket, and the smallest branches are tipped with spines. The entire plant is sparsely covered in short hairs. Its fleshy green leaves are oblong or oval in shape, up to one centimeter long, and most grow in clusters. The inflorescence is a cluster of tube-throated flowers that grow in leaf axils, within the splits between leaf clusters. Flowers are pink when in bud, and mostly white when fully open. The fruit this plant produces is a capsule.
