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Desert Moonpod

Acleisanthes nevadensis

Also called Desert Wing Fruit

Desert Moonpod
Photo: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0

Desert moonpod is a low, spreading desert perennial herb from the four o'clock family, native to southern Nevada and nearby Utah and Arizona. It thrives in hot, dry conditions with very sparing water and is rarely grown in gardens.

Family
Nyctaginaceae (Nyctagin family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly and let the soil dry out fully between waterings.
Soil
Fast-draining sandy or gritty desert soil.
Temperature
Tolerates hot desert summers and mild winters; protect from hard frost.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
SE. California to SW. Utah
Climate
desert or dry shrubland

About

Acleisanthes nevadensis (syn. Selinocarpus nevadensis) is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common names desert moonpod and desert wing-fruit. It is native to a section of the southwestern United States encompassing southern Nevada and adjacent corners of Utah and Arizona. One occurrence has been observed in eastern California. The plant grows in desert habitat such as scrub and rocky washes. This herb produces several spreading stems up to about 30 centimeters in maximum length, sometimes from a woody base. The stems are covered in many leaves with fleshy oval or rounded blades up to 3 centimeters long which are borne on petioles. The herbage of the plant is coated in thick, wide, white, furry hairs, interspersed with shorter, flat hairs. Some hairs are glandular. Flowers occur in leaf axils.

Other Acleisanthes plants

Texas trumpets · Littleleaf Moonpod · Trumpets

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Acleisanthes nevadensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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