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Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Shrubs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel

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 branch ends, is unique and makes identification easy. Plants are male or female, but the hanging flowers are similar.

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.

Look for Ashy Silktassel along the base of the Red Rock Cliffs and on the slopes of Virgin Peak in Gold Butte.

Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel leaves

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.

Bark: Gray.

Stems: Upright, spreading, stiff.

Leaves: Elliptical (to 3 inches by 1-3/4 inches), leathery, entire; lower surface may be hairy.

Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel (female flowers)

Flowers: Dioecious (plants are male or female). Blooms during spring. Inflorescence: hanging, catkin-like structure; individual flowers inconspicuous.

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.

Comments:

Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Dorsal surface of leaf 1
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ventral surface of leaf 1
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Dorsal surface of leaf 2
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ventral surface of leaf 2
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Hairy ventral surface of leaf 1 (close-up)
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Hairy ventral surface of leaf 2 (close-up)
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel flower buds
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel flower buds
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel male flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel female flowers
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel developing fruits
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel developing fruits
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel developing fruits
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel fruits
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel fruits
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel old fruits
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel old fruits
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel old fruits
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel old fruits persist as new flowers begin to emerge
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel very old fruits
Ashy Silktassel (Garrya flavescens)
Ashy Silktassel very old fruits

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
copyright; Last updated 220816

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