Medicinal Monday Ziziphus obtusifolia

This densely branched shrub has small leaves and stiff branches ending in spines! Native Americans communities found several interesting uses for this thorny bush that range from eye medication to dermatological treatments.

About Ziziphus obtusifolia

This flowering plant is part of the buckthorn family that is native to South Central and Southwestern United States. It is commonly found in the deserts of California and through northern Mexico. It is often found growing in shrubby and scrubby desert habitats, grasslands, and prairies among other desert plants such as honey mesquite, smooth mesquite, ocotillo, and creosote.

This shrub has branches that grow into a thorny tangle and can grow up to 13 feet. The leaves are absent most of the year leaving this plant bare.  The branches are coated in whitish hair and the oval leaves are gray or green. The flowers that appear in the spring are yellow-green and the blueberry blue fruit of this plant is a mealy juicy drupe containing one seed.

Medicinal and Culinary Uses

The Pima used this plant as an analgesic for pain, they would prick the skin all over to sooth rheumatic pain.  The Apache dig up this plant and boil the roots and use this infusion as a shampoo for hair. Another use is to use a decoction of the roots to treat sore eyes.

The Papago boiled the fruit of this plant and used it as a syrup, the  Yavapai mashed the berries and added water for a drink and the Maricopa dried the berries and stored them, when they wanted to use them for food, they would soak the berries in hot water.

Did You Know...

This plant is also called lotebush, graythorn, gumdrop tree and Texas buckthorn.

The dark fruit of this plant is edible, but not especially tasty, except for wildlife.

The dense thicket of this plant provides a wonderful nesting and resting spot for birds, small mammals and lizards.