Names
Scientific Name: Forestiera shrevei
Synonym: Forestiera phillyreoides
Common Names: Desert olive
Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Tree/shrub
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert canyons and dry, rocky slopes, 2,500 to 4,500 feet
Flower Color: Light green with dark purple anthers
Flowering Season: December to March
Height: Up to 12 feet
Description: This shrub has gray to black, smooth bark. Its leaves are oblong or lance-shaped with small hairs on both sides. The clusters of green and purple flowers are followed by brown, egg-shaped fruits 3/8 of an inch long.
Special Characteristics
Named for Forrest Shreve, famed botanist/ecologist who worked at the Desert Lab from 1908 until his death in 1951.
In the wild this plant may form dense thickets.
Classification
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Oleaceae
SOURCES:
Kearney, T. H. and R. H. Peebles. 1960. Arizona Flora. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Epple, Lewis E. and Anne O. Updated by John F. Wiens. (2012). Falcon Guide: Plants of Arizona. Globe Pequot Press: Guilford, CT.
