Desert Holly
Desert Holly (Atriplex hymenelytra)
Desert holly belongs to the low, hot country: the dry wash, the stony slope, the alkaline flat, and the open scrub where the sun has its way all day. It is a small rounded saltbush, usually no more than three feet high, but it carries a color uncommon in the desert. Its leaves are pale silver-gray, so that a bush may seem to hold a little of the hard white light that falls upon it.
The leaves are thick and broad, round to oval, and edged with uneven teeth. They twist and turn upon their stalks, and in that shape there is a faint likeness to the holly of colder places. But desert holly is no kin to that plant. It is a child of salt country.
Fine bladder-like hairs on the leaves gather salts, and the pale surface throws back part of the fierce sunlight. The leaves also stand at a steep angle, receiving less of the noon heat. These small arrangements make it possible for the shrub to live where the ground is dry, hot, and often alkaline.
The flowers come from January into April. They are small and easily passed by, yellowish to purple-brown on male plants and less showy on female plants. The fruit is held between two round, leaf-like bracts, which enlarge as it ripens.
Desert holly grows below about 5,000 feet in the Mojave and other southwestern deserts, from eastern California across southern Nevada and southwestern Utah to Arizona and northern Mexico. It is not a plant of soft places. It belongs to the land of glare, salt, wind, and long waiting for rain.
Ivanpah Valley
Shrublands: Brittlebrush series, Creosote bush series, Creosote bush - white bursage series, Desert-holly series, Fourwing saltbrush series, Greasewood series, ...
Piute Valley - Sacramento Mountains
Shrublands: Black bush series, Brittlebrush series, Creosote bush series, Creosote bush - white bursage series, Desert-holly series, Scadscale series, Tamarisk ...
Panamint Valley:
Shrublands: Brittlebrush series, Creosote bush series, Creosote bush - white bursage series, Desert-holly series, Fourwing saltbrush series, Greasewood series, ...
Silurian Valley - Devil's Playground
Shrublands: Brittlebrush series, Creosote bush series, Creosote bush - white bursage series, Desert-holly series, Fourwing saltbrush series, Greasewood series, ...
Mojave Valley - Granite Mountains:
Shrublands: Allscale series, Brittlebrush series, Creosote bush series, Creosote bush - white bursage series, Desert-holly series, Fourwing saltbrush series, ...
Hollow Hills Wilderness - Mojave Desert
Desert tortoise and Mojave fringe-toed lizard have been seen here. Creosote, desert holly and scale scrub plant communities prevail throughout this area.
Surprise Canyon Wilderness
Creosote bush scrub and desert holly dot the alluvial fans, while the rocky canyon walls support the endangered Panamint daisy. Cottonwood and willows grow ...
Borrego Valley - West Mesa:
Desert-holly series, Elephant tree stands, Mojave yucca series, Nolina series, Ocotillo series, Teddy-bear cholla series, White bursage series.
Creosote bush - Mojave Desert
It also occurs as a transitional species in desert grasslands, mesquite woodlands, ... Creosotebush also occurs in the Mojave Desert scrub association with ...
Lucerne - Johnson Valleys and Hills
Grasslands: Alkali sacaton series, Big galleta series, Desert needlegrass series, ... bush - white bursage series, Desert-holly series, Fourwing saltbrush series, ...
Badwater Region
The predominant natural plant communities on fans are Desert-holly series and, higher up the fans, Creosote bush series. Desert-holly series is replaced by ...
Mushroom Rock & Lake Manly Terrace
The predominant natural plant communities on fans are Desert-holly series and, ... Desert-holly series is replaced by Allscale series toward the southern end of ...
Ecological Subregions of California: 322Ba
Grasslands: Alkali sacaton series, Desert sand - verbena series, Indian ricegrass ... bush - white bursage series, Desert-holly series, Fourwing saltbush series, ...
The White Heart
The most flourishing shrub was the desert-holly with gray, frosted leaves shaped exactly like the leaves of Christmas holly, and small lavender berries.