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Spiny Horsebrush

Tetradymia spinosa Hook. & Arn.

Description

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Shrubs, 10–100 cm. Stems 1–5+, erect or spreading, spiny, evenly pannose. Leaves: primaries forming recurved spines, 5–25 mm; secondaries linear-filiform to spatulate, 3–25 (× 1–2) mm, glabrous or glabrescent. Heads 1–2 (in axils of spines). Peduncles 5–30 mm. Involucres hemispheric, 8–12 mm. Phyllaries 4–6, oblong to ovate. Florets 5–8; corollas pale to bright yellow, 6–10 mm. Cypselae 6–8 mm, copiously pilose (hairs 9–12 mm); pappi of ca. 25, subulate scales 6–9 mm. 2n = 60.
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Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
bibliographic citation
Flora of North America Vol. 20: 629,630, 632 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
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Common Names

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
spiny horsebrush

shortspine horsebrush

catclaw-horsebrush

thorny horsebrush

cottonthorn
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Description

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More info for the terms: perfect, shrub

Spiny horsebrush is a native subshrub or shrub with semiwoody to woody stem texture [30], reaching 4 feet (1.2 m) in height [16]. The leaves and young shoots are armed with spines [27,30,59] that are 0.2 to 0.6 inch (0.5-1.5 cm) long in the typical variety and 0.6 to 2 inches (1.5-5.0 cm) in Tetradymia spinosa var. longispina [16]. Horsebrushes (Tetradymia spp.) have 2 types of leaves: primary and secondary. Primary leaves occur on elongated stems, and secondary leaves grow from the axils of primary leaves [35]. Spiny horsebrush's inflorescence is a raceme with tubular, perfect flowers [16,35]. Fruits are 6- to 8-mm-long hairy achenes with bristly pappi [27]. Spiny horsebrush is rhizomatous, and shows a strong tendency to form colonies [53]. Horsebrushes are tap-rooted [32]. 
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Distribution

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Spiny horsebrush occurs from southeastern Oregon east to Wyoming and south to northwestern New Mexico, Utah, and southern California [16,60], where it is rare [30]. Tetradymia spinosa var. longispina occurs in southern Utah and Nevada, and in Mono County, California [16]. Plants database provides a distributional map of spiny horsebrush.
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Fire Ecology

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More info for the terms: cover, fire regime, root crown, seed, severity, shrub

Fire adaptations: Horsebrushes are "slightly damaged by fire" [45]: top-growth is removed. Spiny horsebrush sprouts from the root crown and rhizomes after fire [9,41,56,61]. It also establishes from seed after fire [62].

FIRE REGIMES: Fires in the desert shrub ecosystems in which spiny horsebrush occurs were historically infrequent and stand replacing. Spiny horsebrush is most common on dry sites with sparse vegetation cover [7,10], and fires are rare on spiny horsebrush-dominated sites due to sparse fuels [41,42]. Fires in the pinyon-juniper types with a spiny horsebrush component were of mixed severity [42].

The following table provides fire return interval for plant communities and ecosystems with spiny horsebrush. Find further fire regime information for the plant communities in which this species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under "Find FIRE REGIMES".

Community or Ecosystem Dominant Species Fire Return Interval Range (years) sagebrush steppe Artemisia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata 20-70 [42] basin big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata var. tridentata 12-43 [48] mountain big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata var. vaseyana 15-40 [1,11,36] Wyoming big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata var. wyomingensis 10-70 (40**) [57,63] saltbush-greasewood Atriplex confertifolia-Sarcobatus vermiculatus western juniper Juniperus occidentalis 20-70 Rocky Mountain juniper Juniperus scopulorum pinyon-juniper Pinus-Juniperus spp. 42] **mean
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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Fire Management Considerations

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More info for the term: shrubs

Fire exclusion on desert steppes has tended to favor sagebrush species over fire-tolerant shrubs such as spiny horsebrush [12,25,28]. Increased fire frequencies due to invasion of cheatgrass, red brome (Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens), and other annual grasses may favor spiny horsebrush and other sprouting shrubs over sagebrush.
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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Growth Form (according to Raunkiær Life-form classification)

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More info for the term: phanerophyte

RAUNKIAER [47] LIFE FORM:
Phanerophyte
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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Habitat characteristics

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More info for the terms: cover, litter

Spiny horsebrush occurs on dry, open foothills, plains, and alkali sinks [16,34]. It grows on skeletal to deep soils [5,24] with clay and loam textures [5,59]. Sites with a large spiny horsebrush component are often mostly bare ground. In west-central Colorado, a spiny horsebrush community showed 15% plant cover (9% of which was spiny horsebrush), 8% litter cover, and 77% bare soil. Although the soil was moist, it was the saltiest of 13 plant communities studied. Researchers speculated that most soil water was lost to evaporation [7]. A northeastern Utah study found spiny horsebrush dominance was correlated with bare ground and soils with poor cation exchange and high concentrations of soluble salts [10].

Spiny horsebrush generally occurs from 2,600 to 6,600 feet (800-2,000 m) elevation, although it is rarely found as high as 8,900 feet (2,700 m) [16]. Elevational ranges by state are:

CA 2,600-7,900 feet (800-2,400 m) [24,27] CO 4,500-7,000 feet (1,400-2,100) [26] UT 1,400-6,300 feet (1,250-1,925 m) [60]

Climate on spiny horsebrush sites is often harsh, with hot summers and cool to cold winters. A Nevada ephedra-spiny horsebrush site in the Owens Valley of California showed a mean weekly maximum summer temperature of 104 oFahrenheit (40 oC), 0.9 inch (240 mm) total summer precipitation, and mean total windspeed of 62.1 miles/day (99.9 km/day) [13].

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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Habitat: Cover Types

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

More info for the term: cover

SAF COVER TYPES [18]:





238 Western juniper

239 Pinyon-juniper
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Habitat: Ecosystem

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

More info for the term: shrub

ECOSYSTEMS [21]:





FRES29 Sagebrush

FRES30 Desert shrub

FRES35 Pinyon-juniper
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Habitat: Plant Associations

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: woodland

KUCHLER [31] PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:





K023 Juniper-pinyon woodland

K024 Juniper steppe woodland

K038 Great Basin sagebrush

K040 Saltbush-greasewood

K041 Creosote bush

K042 Creosote bush-bur sage

K055 Sagebrush steppe
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Habitat: Rangeland Cover Types

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This species is known to occur in association with the following Rangeland Cover Types (as classified by the Society for Range Management, SRM):

More info for the terms: cover, shrub

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES [50]:





211 Creosote bush scrub

401 Basin big sagebrush

402 Mountain big sagebrush

403 Wyoming big sagebrush

404 Threetip sagebrush

405 Black sagebrush 

406 Low sagebrush

414 Salt desert shrub

501 Saltbush-greasewood

506 Creosotebush-bursage
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Immediate Effect of Fire

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Fire rarely kills horsebrush species. It top-kills spiny horsebrush [43,45].
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Importance to Livestock and Wildlife

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More info for the term: cover

Palatability: Spiny horsebrush is not a toxic horsebrush species [19,49,52,54], but browsers seldom use it. Horsebrushes are unpalatable except early in the spring, when animals may consume young shoots and buds [29,49]. Domestic sheep on saltdesert shrublands in Utah browsed spiny horsebrush only incidentally. Use was 0.9% in the 1st year of the study and 0% in the 2nd [22]. Palatability of spiny horsebrush has been rated as follows [17]:

  CO MT UT WY cattle ---- poor poor poor domestic sheep ---- poor fair poor horses ---- poor poor poor pronghorn ---- ---- poor ---- elk poor ---- poor ---- mule deer poor ---- poor ---- small mammals ---- ---- fair ---- small nongame birds ---- ---- fair ---- upland game birds ---- ---- poor ---- waterfowl ---- ---- poor ----

Nutritional value: Mean nutritional content of spiny horsebrush browse is as follows [39]:

Nutrient % ash 5.4 crude fiber 36.8 ether extract 6.3 N-free extract 42.8 Protein (N × 6.25) 8.7      cattle (digestible protein) 5.3      domestic goats (digestible protein) 4.7      horses (digestible protein) 4.9      domestic rabbits (digestible protein) 5.4      domestic sheep (digestible protein) 5.1 calcium 0.94 phosphorus 0.25

Cover value: Spiny horsebrush provides cover for small animals [34].

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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Key Plant Community Associations

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More info for the terms: association, constancy, cover, shrub, tree

Spiny horsebrush is common throughout the Great Basin and Mojave deserts, but
does not occur in pure
stands. It is usually found as isolated individuals or small colonies in saltbush (Atriplex
spp.) scrub, desert steppe, low-elevation sagebrush (Artemisia
spp.), and pinyon-juniper (Pinus-Juniperus spp.) communities [3,30,37].
Common Great Basin associates of spiny horsebrush include shadscale (Atriplex
confertifolia), winterfat (Krascheninnikovia
lanata), and broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae) [3]. In Utah it occurs in desert shrub,
shrub-grassland, and Colorado pinyon-Utah juniper communities (P. edulis-J.
osteosperma) [60]. It is a subdominant shrub on the Snake River Plain of southern Idaho, where it
associates with big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), winterfat, and snakeweeds (Gutierrezia spp.)
[33,40]. It is most common in black greasewood (Sarcobatus
vermiculatus)-shadscale communities in Nevada [6,8], and in saltbush scrub deserts
in California [27]. It also occurs in big sagebrush, creosotebush
(Larrea tridentata),
singleleaf pinyon (P. monophylla), and Joshua
tree (Yucca brevifolia) communities in California [2,24].



Although spiny horsebrush is fairly constant in desert plant communities, it is usually not a community dominant. It showed
33% constancy in a spiny hopsage/green rabbitbrush/cheatgrass (Grayia spinosa/Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus/Bromus
tectorum) community in north-central Nevada [5], and 38% mean
cover on Mojave Desert sites in California [14]. It sometimes
forms a Nevada ephedra (Ephedra nevadensis)-spiny horsebrush association
in the Mojave Desert [13]. Branson and
others [7] documented a spiny horsebrush-dominated community in west-central Colorado.
It was the least productive and least diverse of the 13 Colorado Great Basin communities
they studied.
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Life Form

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More info for the term: shrub

Shrub
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Management considerations

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More info for the terms: shrub, shrubs

Spiny horsebrush was affected by the massive shrub die-off in the Great Basin in
1977-1986. Besides high mortality, many plants showed signs of decline and low
vigor. Causes of the die-off are not known; unlike other periods of shrub die-off in the
Great Basin, it occurred during a period of unusually high precipitation
[33,40].
Elevated levels of soil salinity, anaerobic conditions caused by waterlogged
soils, and plant pathogens (viruses, fungi, and bacteria) have been suggested as
causes. One result of the die-back was an escalated invasion of cheatgrass,
which established in areas left bare by dead shrubs [40].
See cheatgrass
for information on altered FIRE REGIMES due to that species.
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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Occurrence in North America

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CA CO ID MT NM NV OR UT WY
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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Other uses and values

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Spiny horsebrush is a honeybee plant [30]. Western Shoshone used spiny horsebrush concoctions as external medicine, and used the spines as piercing instruments [65].
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Phenology

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Spiny horsebrush flowers from April to June [16]; occasionally flowering extends into August [34]. Colonies usually have synchronous flowering [37,53]. Failure to flower or develop seed is apparently triggered by low rainfall. In very dry years, some individuals -- or entire colonies -- may not flower, or will flower and not set seed [53]. Spiny horsebrush is drought deciduous, shedding the secondary leaves 1st [23,53].
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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Plant Response to Fire

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More info for the terms: root crown, seed

Spiny horsebrush establishes after fire from seed and by sprouting from rhizomes and the root crown [9,41,56,61]. Spiny horsebrush seedlings were observed 1 year after prescribed burning in a Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis) community in southeastern Oregon [62]. Whether the seedlings established from the seed bank or from off-site sources was not known.
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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Post-fire Regeneration

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More info for the terms: adventitious, rhizome, shrub

POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY [51]:
Small shrub, adventitious bud/root crown
Rhizomatous shrub, rhizome in soil
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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Regeneration Processes

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More info for the terms: root crown, seed

Spiny horsebrush regenerates from seed and by sprouting from rhizomes and the root crown [9,41,56,61,62]. Information on seed production, viability, and dispersal, seed banking, and seedling establishment is scant for spiny and other horsebrushes. Further research is needed on the reproductive ecology of this genus.

Breeding system: Spiny horsebrush may often be self-fertilized by individuals within a colony connected by rhizomes [53].

Pollination: Horsebrushes are pollinated by insect generalists including flies, moths, bees, and beetles [35].

Seed dispersal: Horsebrush seeds are wind dispersed [64]. The hairs on horsebrush pappi aid dispersal [20].

Seedling establishment/growth: Seedling establishment is rare in horsebrushes, probably due to harsh environments [53]. Spiny horsebrush seedlings were observed on a prescribed burned site in southeastern Oregon [62].

Asexual regeneration: Spiny horsebrush forms small colonies from rhizomes, which may extend 1 foot (30 cm) from the parent plant [37,53]. It also sprouts from the root crown [41,61].

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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Regional Distribution in the Western United States

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS [4]:





5 Columbia Plateau

6 Upper Basin and Range

7 Lower Basin and Range

10 Wyoming Basin

12 Colorado Plateau
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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Successional Status

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More info for the terms: cacti, shrubs, succession

Spiny horsebrush occurs in both seral and late-successional plant communities [44]. The rate of succession in many salt desert shrublands is very slow [58], and as a sprouting species, spiny horsebrush is more likely to be found in seral communities compared to nonsprouting desert shrubs. Spiny horsebrush is a nurse plant for seedling cholla cacti (Opuntia spp.) in the Mojave Desert [15].
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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Taxonomy

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The scientific name of spiny horsebrush is Tetradymia spinosa Hook.
& Arn. (Asteraceae) [16,27,30,53,59,60]. Cronquist and others [16] recognize 2 varieties characterized by
relatively short, recurved spines and
relatively long, straight spines, respectively:

Tetradymia spinosa var. spinosa

Tetradymia spinosa var. longispina M. E. Jones

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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html

Value for rehabilitation of disturbed sites

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More info for the term: cover

Spiny horsebrush helps stabilize soil on erodible desert sites. Horsebrushes provide critically needed ground cover on dry sites that are otherwise often sparsely vegetated [34].
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Howard, Janet L. 2002. Tetradymia spinosa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/tetspi/all.html