''Castela emoryi'', with the common names crucifixion thorn, Emory's crucifixion-thorn, and es, chaparro amargosa, is a shrub species in the genus ''

Castela ''Castela'' is a genus of thorny shrubs and small trees in the family Simaroubaceae. Members of the genus are native to the Americas, especially the tropical regions. The generic name honours the French naturalist René Richard Louis Castel. ' ...

'' of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 ...

Distribution

The plant is native 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 i ...

and

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 Arizon ...

s of North America. It is found in southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

, 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 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

state (México). The species is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

and occurs in the moistest areas in the hottest, driest deserts within its range; it is considered poor in

germination Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, ...

Description

''Castela emoryi'' is often less than , and occasionally to grows or more. Crucifixion thorn is mostly leafless, its sharp branches are green and perform

photosynthesis Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored i ...

. Seeds are contained in clusters of fruit in groups of 5. The fruit is tan, green, red or brown in color, turning black with age. and may persist on the tree for several years. It is ranked on the

California Native Plant Society The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is a California environmental non-profit organization (501(c)3) that seeks to increase understanding of California's native flora and to preserve it for future generations. The mission of CNPS is to con ...

Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants, as an endangered species within California, and more common elsewhere.California Native Plant Society−CNPS, Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants: ''Castela emoryi''
. accessed 9.9.2015. It is threatened by solar energy development and military activities within its California range. The species is classified as "Salvage restricted" in Arizona. Castela_emoryi-fruit.jpg, green thorns Chaparro_amargosa-fruit.jpg, fruit cluster

Ecology

''Castela emoryi'' is one of the few plants in its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

that blooms in the mid-summer heat, and serves as an important source of resources for insects during that time. Its nectar is collected by

ants Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Creta ...

, and

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...

is performed by

wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

and

bees Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfam ...

, particularly

bumblebees A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...

Uses

The

Yavapai people The Yavapai are a Native American tribe in Arizona. Historically, the Yavapai – literally “people of the sun” (from ''Enyaava'' “sun” + ''Paay'' “people”) – were divided into four geographical bands who identified as separate, i ...

traditionally used this as a

medicinal plant Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection a ...

, making a dermatological aid from its bud's sap.

Insecticide and fungicide

''Castela emoryi'' is a . It contains

quassinoid Quassinoids are degraded triterpene lactones (similar to limonoids) of the Simaroubaceae plant family grouped into C-18, C-19, C-20, C-22 and C-25 types. The prototypical member of the group, quassin, was first described in the 19th century fr ...

s such as glaucarubolone glucoside which has

antifeedant Antifeedants are organic compounds produced by plants to inhibit attack by insects and grazing animals. These chemical compounds are typically classified as secondary metabolites in that they are not essential for the metabolism of the plant, but i ...

properties against

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes ( eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blat ...

s such as ''

Reticulitermes flavipes ''Reticulitermes flavipes'', the eastern subterranean termite, is the most common termite found in North America. These termites are the most economically important wood destroying insects in the United States and are classified as pests. They f ...

'', or potential fungicidal activity for the control of

grape downy mildew ''Plasmopara viticola'', the causal agent of grapevine downy mildew, is a heterothallic oomycete that overwinters as oospores in leaf litter and soil. In the spring, oospores germinate to produce macrosporangia, which under wet condition release ...

. It also contains glaucarubol, a compound characteristic of the family,

ellagic acid Ellagic acid is a polyphenol found in numerous fruits and vegetables. It is the dilactone of hexahydroxydiphenic acid. Name The name comes from the French term ''acide ellagique'', from the word ''galle'' spelled backwards because it can be o ...

betulin Betulin is an abundant, naturally occurring triterpene. It is commonly isolated from the bark of birch trees. It forms up to 30% of the dry weight of silver birch bark. It is also found in birch sap. ''Inonotus obliquus'' and red alder also c ...

and (—)-

syringaresinol Syringaresinol is a lignan found in ''Castela emoryi'', in ''Prunus mume''. This compound inhibits ''Helicobacter pylori'' motility ''in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, c ...

.Constituents of holacantha emoryi. W. Stöcklin, L.B. De Silva and T.A. Geissman, Phytochemistry, Volume 8, Issue 8, August 1969, Pages 1565–1569,

References

External links

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CalFlora Database: ''Castela emoryi'' (Cricifixion Thorn)Jepson Flora Project treatment of ''Castela emoryi''UC Photos gallery — ''Castela emoryi''
{{- Simaroubaceae Flora of the California desert regions Flora of Arizona Flora of Sonora Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Natural history of the Colorado Desert Natural history of the Mojave Desert Plant toxin insecticides Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Plants described in 1968 Taxa named by Reid Venable Moran Flora without expected TNC conservation status