Search Fact Sheets Virginia Tech Dendrology

bitter condalia Rhamnaceae Condalia globosa I.M. Johnst. Listen to the Latin Print a QR link to this factsheet symbol: COGL
Leaf: Alternate, simple but appearing whorled at the spur shoot tips, evergreen, 1/2 inch, obovate, margins entire, with a round tip, light green above, paler and fine hairy below.
Flower: Inconspicuous, usually paired, in leaf angles, yellow-white, lacking petals but with 5 sepals, appearing in spring.
Fruit: Usually paired, round drupe, fleshy, to 1/4 inch in diameter, ripening to almost black, bitter to but otherwise edible, midsummer.
Twig: Slender, stiff and thorn tipped, bearing spur shoots that protrude at (nearly) 90 degree angles, gray-brown.
Bark: Gray-brown or red-brown, initially smooth, developing diamond-shaped furrows with scaly-topped ridges.
Form: A large shrub to 20 feet, often with several wide-spreading trunks, becoming gnarled.
 Looks like: Anderson boxthorn - Baja desert-thorn - Fremont's desert-thorn

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Additional Range Information: Condalia globosa is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database
All material 2025 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information