''Canotia holacantha'', also known as crucifixion thorn or simply canotia, is a

flowering A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

/ small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

in the family

Celastraceae The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 97 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastrales. The great majority of the genera are tropical, with only ''Celastrus'' (the staf ...

. It is the only species in the genus ''Canotia''.

Distribution

The plant is native to the higher elevation deserts of the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and southeastern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and of

Northwest Mexico The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...

in isolated locales in

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

and

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

). Canotia grows in desert scrub environments, primarily on slopes or in washes. It is found in the higher

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

across central Arizona, reaching to the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

of California and northwest Arizona, and into the lower reaches of the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

Prehistory

The prehistoric distribution of ''Canotia holacantha'' has been analyzed with pollen records in certain locations. One of the most detailed studies has been conducted in the

Waterman Mountains The Waterman Mountains are a low mountainous landform in Pima County, United States. Notable among the tree species is the elephant tree (''Bursera microphylla'') which species exhibits a contorted multi-furcate architecture; most of these froze i ...

of Arizona, where ''C. holacantha'' has been documented to have occurred during the

Late Wisconsin Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

glacial period, along with dominant trees ''

Juniperus osteosperma ''Juniperus osteosperma'' (Utah juniper; syn. ''J. utahensis'') is a shrub or small tree native to the southwestern United States. Description The plant reaches , rarely to 9 m, tall. The shoots are fairly thick compared to most junipers, in ...

'' and ''

Pinus monophylla ''Pinus monophylla'', the single-leaf pinyon, (alternatively spelled piñon) is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to North America. The range is in southernmost Idaho, western Utah, Arizona, southwest New Mexico, Nevada, eastern and souther ...

''.C. Michael Hogan. 2009
''Elephant Tree: Bursera microphylla'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
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Description

''Canotia holacantha'' reaches a height of . However, one specimen located in the eastern

near

Wikieup, Arizona Wikieup is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located on U.S. Route 93 in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is located approximately northwest of Phoenix and southeast of Las Vegas. As of the 2020 census, the ...

is known to exceed in height. It is usually a scrubby species, with gray-green branches tipped with sharp thorns. This species handles photosynthesis with its twigs, rather than the short-lived leaves, like the unrelated Foothill palo verde (''Parkinsonia microphylla'') which it closely resembles. Its leaves are insignificant scales which are quickly shed and rarely seen; more easily seen are its seed pods, which are persistent clusters of reddish-brown seed capsules which hang in groups of five.

Vernacular names

Other common names for this species include ''chaparro amargosa'', ''corona-de-cristo'', and ''rosario''; all such names are in reference to its thorny twigs, which are likened to the

Crown of Thorns According to the New Testament, a woven crown of thorns ( or grc, ἀκάνθινος στέφανος, akanthinos stephanos, label=none) was placed on the head of Jesus during the events leading up to his crucifixion. It was one of the instru ...

. The name "crucifixion thorn" is also applied to several unrelated species, some of which canotia shares its range with, including ''

Castela emoryi ''Castela emoryi'', with the common names crucifixion thorn, Emory's crucifixion-thorn, and es, chaparro amargosa, is a shrub species in the genus ''Castela'' of the family (biology), family Simaroubaceae. Distribution The plant is native to ...

'' in the family

Simaroubaceae The Simaroubaceae are a small, mostly tropical, family in the order Sapindales. In recent decades, it has been subject to much taxonomic debate, with several small families being split off. A molecular phylogeny of the family was published in 200 ...

and ''

Koeberlinia spinosa ''Koeberlinia spinosa'' is a species of flowering plant native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico and India known by several common names, including crown of thorns, allthorn, and crucifixion thorn. It is one of two species of ...

'' (allthorn) in the family

Koeberliniaceae ''Koeberlinia'' is a genus of flowering plant. It is the sole genus in the family ''Koeberliniaceae''. Alternately it is treated as a member of the Capparaceae. Species ''Koeberlinia'' includes two species: *''Koeberlinia holacantha'' W.C. Hol ...

. The World War II ''Ailanthus''-class

net laying ship A net laying ship, also known as a net layer, net tender, gate ship or boom defence vessel was a type of naval auxiliary ship. A net layer's primary function was to lay and maintain steel anti-torpedo or anti-submarine nets. Nets could be laid ...

USS ''Canotia'' (AN-47) was named after this tree. ''Canotia'' is grown in cultivation by seeds.

References

External links

Arizona Wildflowers: Crucifixion thorn – ''Canotia holacantha''
* ttp://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Celastraceae/Canotia_holacantha.html Desert Tropicals: Canotia holacanthabr>NAZFlora – Canotia holacantha
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q1033617, from2=Q5033459 North American desert flora Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Northwestern Mexico Flora of the California desert regions Monotypic rosid genera Celastrales genera Celastraceae Flora without expected TNC conservation status