If you are inclined to be a botanical splitter, then the plant I’m talking about is Condalia warnockii var. kearneyana, or so say Benson and Darrow. I’m a lazy lumper and so the plant is Condalia warnockii or Mexican Crucillo. Around you and me this interesting shrub in the Buckthorn Family ranges from 2,500 to 4,500 feet in elevation, being equally at home in the Sonoran Desert, the Chihuahuan Desert and the Desert Grassland. And I think it would be quite at home in your yard as well.
The loose rock fandango can get pretty elaborate with elements of modern dance, hokey pokey, ballet and of course some jazz hands thrown into...
The photos are mine and of a fruity canyon hackberry (Celtis reticulata), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium!), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis!!) and the “rustyish” seed...
The genus is now Hesperocyparis, but back in the olden days I learned the rough bark Arizona cypress of southeastern Arizona as Cupressus arizonica...
