crucifixion thorn Celastraceae Canotia holacantha

Leaf:Mostly leafless as the leaves are short-lived, alternate, scale-like, 1/8 inch long.
Flower:Species is monoecious; small (1/4 inch), 5 petals in tight axillary clusters, yellow-green to white, appearing in early to mid-summer.
Fruit:Persistent, dark brown, dry and woody 5-parted capsules (each “part” culminating in two pointed lobes), 1 1/4 inch long.
Twig:Stout, blue-green to yellow-green, glabrous, with faint white stomatal lines, very rigid with numerous stout thorns.
Bark:Gray-brown, ridged and furrowed, somewhat fibrous.
Form:A small tree to 30 feet but more commonly a large shrub to 15 feet, sprawling and dense with a round crown.

flower fruit twig form map

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