Carried by 6 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
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Adolphia californica is a species of flowering shrub in the Rhamnaceae (Buckthorn) family known by the common names California Adlophin, Prickbush and Spineshrub. It is native to Baja California and California no farther north than San Diego County. It is a resident of the local chaparral and coastal sage scrub plant communities. This is a branching shrub not exceeding a meter in height with thick hairless to fuzzy dark green twigs. The stiff twigs bear sharp thorns. The very sparse leaves are each less than a centimeter long and oval-shaped with a pointed or rounded tip. The shrub blooms abundantly in clusters of flowers along all the branches. Each flower is a star-shaped bowl of five pointed cream-colored sepals. Between the sepals are five tiny spoon-shaped cream-colored petals. The fruit is a spherical capsule about half a centimeter across. It is not often used in gardens due to its formidable spines, but it is valuable in restoration projects in it native range.
Shrub
3 ft Tall
5 ft Wide
Mounding
Summer Semi-deciduous
Cream
Spring, Winter
Bank stabilization
Full Sun
Very Low
Max 1x / month once established
Tolerates cold to 25° F
Fast, Medium
Typically sandy.
For propagating by seed: No treatment. ( Emery and Frey 1971).
Semi-arid marine terraces, bluffs, canyons and slopes of San Diego County
Chaparral, Coastal Sage Scrub, Valley Grassland
Use with other plants of the San Diego shrublands including Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), Lemonadeberry (Rhus integrifolia), Manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp. and Xylococcus spp.), Ceanothus species, Milkweed (Asclepias spp.), Giant Wild Rye (Elymus condensatus), Sand Aster (Corethrogyne filaginifolia), Sagebrush (Artemisia californica), Monkeyflower (Mimulus spp.), Encelia californica, Woolly Bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum), Buckwheat (Eriogonum spp.), Heartleaf Keckiella (Keckiella cordifolia), Penstemon species, Salvia species, Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum).