Country of origin: United States, Mexico (Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert)
Description
It is an evergreen shrub with a height of 5 m. Dioecious. In plantations, male and female varieties are grown at a ratio of 1: 10. In the Arid Land Research Center, it blooms from mid- to late April. Propagation is performed by seeding, cutting, or tissue culturing. It is strongly xerotolerant and can be grown at annual precipitation of 100 mm or more. It is also tolerant against low nutrition, alkaline soil, and salt. The seeds were also substituted for coffee beans.
References
Hayder, M. 2011. Oil trees for energy in the Near East region. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Regional Office for the Near East, Cairo, Egypt. (http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i12559e/i12559e00.pdf)
Tull, D. 2013. Edible and useful plants of the southwest: Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. University of Texas Press, Texas, USA.
