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General: Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
is a robust, upright evergreen shrub with relatively large leaves for a
desert plant (to about 3-inches long). The leaves are gray-green and
leathery. The catkin-like flower structure, hanging near the ends of
the branches, is unique and makes identification easy.
Ashy Silktassel is a fairly common component of
vegetation communities on well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils along
washes and on upper bajadas and moderate slopes into the lower
mountains in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave
Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper
Woodland) and Transition (Yellow
Pine Forest) life zones. |
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Family: Silk Tassel (Garryaceae).
Other Names: Silk tassel bush.
Plant Form: Robust, upright evergreen shrub or subtree.
Height: Usually to about 6 feet, to 10 feet. |

Developing fruits |
Bark: Gray.
Stems: Upright, spreading, stiff.
Leaves: Elliptical (to 3 inches by 1-3/4 inches), leathery, entire; lower surface may be hairy.
Flowers: Dioecious. Blooms during spring. Inflorescence: hanging, catkin-like structure; flowers inconspicuous. |

Old fruits |
Seeds: Fruit: berry; green, aging to black or gray; dry. Seeds: 2 per berry.
Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on upper bajadas and moderate slopes in the lower mountains.
Elevation: About 2,000 to 8,000 feet.
Distribution: California to Utah and Arizona, then south into northern Baja California.
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