| Thamnosma montana | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Rutaceae |
| Genus: | Thamnosma |
| Species: | T. montana |
| Binomial name | |
| Thamnosma montana Torr. & Frém. |
|
Thamnosma montana is a species of flowering plant in the citrus family known by the common names turpentine broom and Mojave desert-rue. It is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in scrub, juniper woodland, and other desert habitat. It grows among desert plants such as creosote, blackbrush, ephedra, and Yucca species such as Joshua Tree.[1] It is a shrub with many straight, broomlike, yellow-green, gland-speckled branches 30 to 60 centimeters long. It is usually bare, without leaves, because the leaves are tiny and wither early. Flowers occur at intervals along the stem. Each has a greenish base of blunt sepals. The corolla is oval with rounded ends, the petals royal purple in color and, like most other parts of the plant, studded with visible resin glands. The tips of the petals curve outward, revealing a protruding stigma and shorter yellow-tipped stamens. The fruit is a leathery, yellow-green, gland-spotted capsule with two nearly separate rounded lobes. Within the capsule are pale, kidney-shaped seeds about 4 millimeters long each. The fruits are eaten by animals which then disperse the seeds.[1]
This plant was used by many Native American groups as a medicine, a ceremonial drug, and for pest control.[2]