Flower Color: White, showy, fragrant, mostly solitary, some in clusters of 2 or 3 on terminal end of branches, petals also white, may be tinged with purple, fruit a 4-celled capsule.
Flowering Season: March to June
Elevation: 3,000 to 7,000 feet (914 to 2,133 m)
Habitat Preferences: Dry rocky and gravelly slopes.
Recorded Range: Cliff Fendlerbush is found in the southwestern United States in AZ, CO, NM, NV and TX. It is also native to northern Mexico.
U.S. Weed Information: No information available.
Invasive/Noxious Weed Information: No information available.
Wetland Indicator: No information available.
Threatened/Endangered Information: No information available.
Genus Information: In North America there are 3 species for genus Fendlera. Worldwide, The Plant List includes 5 accepted species names and a further 4 scientific names of infraspecific rank for the genus.
In the Southwestern United States: Arizona has 2 species of genus Fendlera, California has 0 species, Colorado has 2 species, Nevada has 1 species, New Mexico has 2 species, Texas has 3 species, Utah has 1 species. All data approximate and subject revision.
There is 1 variety in Fendlera rupicola;
Fendlera rupicola var. falcata, (AZ, CO, NM, NV and TX);
Comments: Cliff Fendlerbush is an important plant in the southwestern United States. It is valuable as food to deer and bighorn sheep and also to livestock, including goats, when other food is scarce. When in bloom, the plant is showy and is able to withstand intense hear and considerable drought. This plant is regularly recommended for cultivation as an ornamental shrub.
Cliff Fendlerbush prefers desert shrub, pinyon-juniper/mountain shrub and blue grama grass vegetative communities.
The U. S. Forest Service has an excellent site with detailed information about Cliff Fendlerbush on-line at: Fire Effects Information System (FEIS).
Etymology:
The genus "Fendler" is in honor of Augustus Fendler (1813-1883) a German plant collector and early botanical explorer of southwestern United State. Mr. Fendler collected plants in North and South America and also worked for Asa Gray and George Engelmann.
The species epithet "rupicola" is from Latin translations meaning living or growing on rocky slopes or "rock-inhabiting", referencing the species preference for rocky habitats.
Ethnobotany
Fendlera rupicola, has been used for a wide and diverse purposes by Arizona and New Mexico state indigenous peoples.
Havasupai Other, Hunting & Fishing Item. Wood used to make arrow foreshafts.
Hopi Other, Ceremonial Items. Used in religious ceremonies.
Navajo Drug, Gastrointestinal Aid. Infusion of inner bark taken for swallowed ants.
Navajo Other, Ceremonial Items. Notched stick rubbed with a smooth stick instead of beating a drum in the Mountain Chant Ceremony.
Navajo Other, Ceremonial Items. Used by the Home God in the Mountain Chant Ceremony.
Navajo Other, Hunting & Fishing Item. Wood used to make arrow shafts.
Navajo Other, Insecticide. Plant used to kill hair lice.
Navajo Other, Tools. Wood used to make weaving forks, planting sticks and knitting needles.
Navajo, Kayenta Drug, Cathartic. Plant used as a cathartic.
Navajo, Kayenta Drug, Ceremonial Medicine. Plant used for Plumeway, Nightway, Male Shootingway and Windway ceremonies.
Navajo, Kayenta Other, Ceremonial Items. Boiled with juniper berries, pinon buds and corn meal and used in mush-eating ceremonies.
See complete listing of ethno-botanical uses at Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn.
