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California Adolphia
Adolphia californica
  
About California Adolphia (Adolphia californica) 9 Nurseries Carry This Plant 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. Because of its limited distribution it is included on CNPS list 2B.1. 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.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub

Size
Size
3.3 ft tall
5 ft wide

Form
Form
Mounding

Dormancy
Dormancy
Summer Semi-Deciduous

Flower Color
Flower Color
Cream

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Winter, Spring

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Very Low

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to 25° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast, Medium

Soil Description
Soil Description
Typically sandy

Common uses
Common uses
Bank Stabilization

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: No treatment. ( Emery and Frey 1971).

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Semi-arid marine terraces, bluffs, canyons and slopes of San Diego County

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 9.9" - 14.7", Summer Precipitation: 0.21" - 0.36", Coldest Month: 49.3" - 54.8", Hottest Month: 69.3" - 77.1", Humidity: 1.25" - 20.52", Elevation: 7" - 888"

Alternative Names
Common Names: California Adlophin, California Prickbush, Spineshrub


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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