Las Animas nakedwood, California snakebush Las Animas nakedwood, California snakebush

Colubrina texensis (Torrey & A. Gray) A. Gray var. californica (I. M. Johnston) L. D. Benson

Shrubs, erect, 1–2(–3, rarely to 8) m. Stems ± straight, intricately branched, white-tomentose, glabrescent. Leaves deciduous, sometimes fascicled; petiole 1–4 mm; blade elliptic to oblong-elliptic or elliptic-obovate, 1–2.5(–3.5) cm, coriaceous, base rounded to cuneate, margins entire or mucronulate to obscurely serrulate, teeth (0–)2–7 per side, apex rounded to truncate, both surfaces usually minutely hirtellous to sparsely pilose, abaxial sometimes strigose; pinnately veined, secondary veins 3–4(–5) pairs, ± straight. Inflorescences cymes or thyrses, 2–12-flowered, or flowers solitary; peduncles 1–2 mm; fruiting pedicels 2–4 mm. Capsules 7–9 mm.

Flowering (Dec–)Mar–May. Sandy washes, arroyos, alluvial slopes and fans, granite slopes, creosote bush and desert scrubs; (100–)300–1000 m; Ariz., Calif., Nev.; Mexico (Baja California, Sonora).

In Arizona, Colubrina californica occurs in La Paz, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, and Yuma counties; in California, all known records are from Imperial, Riverside, and San Diego counties; in Nevada it is known from Clark County.