This week I am featuring the Semmondsia chinensis, or ‘Jojoba’
FUN FACT: Jojoba is grown for the liquid wax (commonly called jojoba oil) in its seeds. This oil is rare in that it’s an extremely long straight-chain wax ester and not a triglyceride, making jojoba and its derivative jojoba esters more similar to human sebum and whale oil than to traditional vegetable oils.
Jojoba oil is interesting for the industry because it is odorless and it has a viscosity which is temperature-independent. Applications vary from engine lubricating oil to cooking oil. Jojoba wax is used predominantly for pharmaceutical compounds, specially for skin products. After polymerization, factice can be used for rubber production. The use as biodiesel fuel is becoming more and more important.
· Common Name: Jojoba
· Botanical Name: Simmondsia chinensis
· Native Distribution: Sonoran Desert
· Hardiness: 20°
· Sun: Full Reflective Sun
· Water: Low
· Growth (rate, size and form): Slow growing, 6 feet by 6 feet, mounding
· Foliage (e/d, color, texture): Evergreen, Gray-green, Coarse texture
· Flowers (color & season): Yellow green, Non-showy, Spring blooms
· Comments (litter, thorns, allergenic): Low little, no thorns
· Special Features (wildlife, other): Good for naturalistic landscapes, screening, or informal hedge
· Hardiness: 20°
· Sun: Full Reflective Sun
· Water: Low
· Growth (rate, size and form): Slow growing, 6 feet by 6 feet, mounding
· Foliage (e/d, color, texture): Evergreen, Gray-green, Coarse texture
· Flowers (color & season): Yellow green, Non-showy, Spring blooms
· Comments (litter, thorns, allergenic): Low little, no thorns
· Special Features (wildlife, other): Good for naturalistic landscapes, screening, or informal hedge
Here are some guides to help us when reading these Shrub, Trees, Cacti, etc of the Day.
* Hardiness – this number will indicate the low temperature that the plant is known to tolerate before suffering serious injury or death. It is sometimes referred to as the plant’s cold hardiness.
* Sun – plants vary in how much sun or shade they need to grow.
* Full/reflected sun – indicates the toughest plants that will tolerate extreme conditions. This occurs when the sun’s heat and light are intensified, such as against a south or west wall.
* Full sun – means that a plant can tolerate exposure to eight or more hours of sun each day.
* Partial sun – for plants that do best with a moderate amount of sun.
* Shade – means that a plant does best with minimum exposure to the sun
* Water – all plants that I will be emailing over are low-water use plants, but some get by with less water than others and these will be indicated as very low, low or moderate.
* Hardiness – this number will indicate the low temperature that the plant is known to tolerate before suffering serious injury or death. It is sometimes referred to as the plant’s cold hardiness.
* Sun – plants vary in how much sun or shade they need to grow.
* Full/reflected sun – indicates the toughest plants that will tolerate extreme conditions. This occurs when the sun’s heat and light are intensified, such as against a south or west wall.
* Full sun – means that a plant can tolerate exposure to eight or more hours of sun each day.
* Partial sun – for plants that do best with a moderate amount of sun.
* Shade – means that a plant does best with minimum exposure to the sun
* Water – all plants that I will be emailing over are low-water use plants, but some get by with less water than others and these will be indicated as very low, low or moderate.