General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Tree
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Dry
Soil pH Preferences: Slightly alkaline (7.4 – 7.8)
Moderately alkaline (7.9 – 8.4)
Strongly alkaline (8.5 – 9.0)
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 4b -31.7 °C (-25 °F) to -28.9 °C (-20 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 9a
Plant Height: 18 feet
Plant Spread: 12 feet
Leaves: Good fall color
Deciduous
Other: light-green to grayish-green oblong simple leaves have an opposite arrangement; brilliant yellow fall foliage and whitish bark
Fruit: Showy
Edible to birds
Other: dense clusters of small (~1/4 inch) one-seeded, blue-black drupes on female plants in late summer; dioecious; no fruit on male plants.
Fruiting Time: Late summer or early fall
Fall
Flowers: Inconspicuous
Other: inconspicuous yellow-white flowers with showy yellow bracts bloom in spring
Flower Color: Yellow
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Spring
Underground structures: Taproot
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Windbreak or Hedge
Wildlife Attractant: Birds
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Suitable for wintersowing
Sow in situ
Other info: seeds are narrow elliptic; approximately 32000 seeds per pound; male and female plants required for seed set
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Tip
Miscellaneous: Tolerates poor soil
Dioecious
Conservation status: Least Concern (LC)

Conservation status:
Conservation status: Least Concern
Image
Common names
  • Desert Olive
  • New Mexico Privet
  • Coyote Bush
  • New Mexico Olive
  • Palo Blanco
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Forestiera pubescens var. parvifolia
  • Synonym: Forestiera neomexicana

Photo Gallery
Location: South Jordan, Utah, United States
Date: 2020-08-31
Location: JC Raulston  Arboretum, Raleigh NC
Date: 2024-02-08
Location: Water Tower Plaza, Thanksgiving Point, Lehi, Utah, United States
Date: 2021-10-30

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