Dunbar Spring Neighborhood_Jatropha cardiophylla

Family:Euphorbiaceae

Common Names:

• English: limberbush

• Spanish: sangregado

• O'odham:  Wa:s 

Scientific Name: Jatropha cardiophylla

Rain Garden Zone: J. cardiophylla does well in the terrace Rain Garden Zone. 

Reproduced with permission from "Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond" by Brad Lancaster, HarvestingRainwater.com

Flowering Season: Summer

Characteristics: J. cardiophylla is a loosely branching, perennial shrub that grows up to 3 ft in
height (1). Flexible branches have reddish-brown bark and produce shiny, heart-shaped leaves,
green in color (1). Flowers are cream or light pink in color (2).

Landscape Cultivation: The shrub is considered low water use, and semi-frost tolerant (down to
20F); it is commonly found on sandy and gravelly slopes, plains, mesas and foothills (3).

Ethnobotany:

Wildlife:
Wasps, small lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), and bombyliid flies are attracted to
the flowers (5).

Other:
Roots can be used for leather tanning and can be used to create a reddish-brown dye
(5). Stems can be used for basketry (6)

References:
1. SEINet
2. Flora of North America
3. Spadefoot Nursery
4. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

5. Kearney, Thomas H. Robert H. Peebles, and others. (1951) Arizona Flora. University of
California Press.
6. Felger, Richard and Mary Beck Moser. (1985) People of the Desert and Sea: Ethnobotany
of the Seri Indians. The University of Arizona Press.

To learn more about this species, see the Desert Landscaping site.