Jojoba
Simmondsia chinensis
Simmondsiaceae
Other names
Goatnut
Growth habit
Shrub
Perennation
Cultivated as annual
Native distribution
SW US, N Mexico
Biocultural value
Seed oil is used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals as well as a top grade industrial lubricant.
Location
Source of plant
Richters
Description
A woody, stiff-branched, glabrous, multi-stemmed shrub to 2m; young branches grey-green, slender pliable. Leaves to 4cm, coriaceous, somewhat thickened, oblong-ovate, opposite, green, yellow-green, short-petioled to subsessile. Flowers unisexual, axillary, sepals 5-6, petals lacking; males clustered, small, yellow, sepals to 5mm, females solitary, pale green, sepals to 15mm, nectaries absent. Capsule ovoid, 3-angled, partly enclosed by the sepals.
USDA Hardiness Zone
10
Special characteristics
tender perennial, other ethnobotanical uses