Utah mortonia Utah mortonia

Mortonia scabrella A. Gray var. utahensis Coville ex Trelease in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. 1(1,2): 400. 1897

Shrubs 0.3–1.2 m. Leaves: blade ovate or broadly elliptic to suborbiculate, 7–16 × 5–12 mm, length 1.3–1.4 times width, rigid, base rounded to broadly cuneate, margins not thickened, revolute, apex rounded to acute, sometimes mucronulate, surfaces scabridulous. Inflorescences cymose panicles. Flowers: sepals triangular, 1–2.3 mm; petals ovate, 2.2–3 mm. Fruits 5–7 mm.

Flowering spring; fruiting late spring–summer. Limestone, dry desert slopes, canyon bottoms; 500–2100 m; Ariz., Calif., Nev., Utah.

Mortonia utahensis is restricted to the Mojave Desert.