Item Tag: Desert

Jojoba Shrub, Simmondsia chinensis, Seeds Edible Fruits, Attracts Birds, Wildlife Food/Shelter, Heat and Drought Tolerant, Long Lived, Desert Shrub, Xeriscape Shrub Native to the Sonoran Desert (Soutwest Arizona, California, Northern Mexico and Baja California), Jojoba is an evergreen shrub that slowly grows 4 to 12 feet. It is a dioecious perennial, (separate male and female plants), with smooth, gray-green leaves. Leaves are oblong and leathery with an upward growth habit. Jojoba is long lived, having a life span of 100 to 200 years. This is a very drought tolerant shrub which performs well in the Southwest where temperatures are quite mild. The evergreen foliage provides year-round food opportunity for many animals, especially deer, javelina, bighorn sheep and livestock. Nuts are eaten by many animals, including squirrels and other rodents, rabbits and larger birds. However, only Bailey’s pocket mouse is known to be able to digest the wax. In large quantities, the seed meal is toxic to many mammals and the indigestible wax acts as a laxative in humans. Jojoba produces an edible oil from its fruit. Jojoba is grown commercially for its oil, a liquid wax ester, extracted from the seed. Indigenous Native Americans in the Sonora and Baja California used jojoba seed and oil for cooking, hair care and for treatments of many medical problems such as poison ivy, sores, wounds, colds, cancer, and kidney malfunction. Seeds may also be boiled to make a well-flavored drink similar to coffee, hence the name Coffeberry. Jojoba is unique among plants in that its seeds contain an oil which is a liquid wax. Oil of Jojoba is obtained by expression or solvent extraction. It is light yellow, unsaturated, of unusual stability, remarkably pure and need not be refined for use as a transformer oil or as a lubricant for high-speed machinery or machines operating at high temperatures. The oil does not become rancid, is not damaged by repeated heating to temperatures over 295°C and requires little refining to obtain maximum purity. Jojoba oil can be easily hydrogenated into a hard white wax, with a melting point of about 73°–74°C and is second in hardness only to carnauba wax. The oil is a potential source of both saturated and unsaturated long-chain fatty acids and alcohols. It is also suitable for sulfurization to produce lubricating oil and a rubber-like material (factice) suitable for use in printing ink and linoleum. The residual meal from expression or extraction contains 30–35% protein. Leaf: simple, oblong, coarse, leathery, blue-green, to 2.5inches long; distinctive stiff, upward orientation to leaves, in pairs. Flower: Dioecious (separate male and female plants), small clusters of yellow flowers. Flowers are apetalous (no petals), the female ones usually solitary in the axils, the male ones clustered with 10 to 12 stamens per flower; female flowers have 5 soft and hairy greenish sepals.Fruit: Only on female plants when males are also present; 1inch oval, brown, nut-like berries that split open when ripe.Other Names: Goat Nut, Deer Nut, Pignut, Wild Hazel, Quinine Nut, Coffeeberry, Gray Box BushZone: 9 to 11 Cold tolerant to 17 degrees F. This plant cannot take hard freezes.Growth Rate: SlowPlant Type: Broadleaf Long Lived Evergreen Shrub Family: SimmondsiaceaeNative Range: Southwestern United States and MexicoHeight: 5 to 8 feet Spread: 5 to 10 feetBloom Time: SpringBloom Color: YellowSun: Full Sun Fall Color: EvergreenDrought Tolerance: HighWater: Low Maintenance: LowSite Requirements /Soil Tolerances: Prefers dry soils. It likes full sun, no water after established. If your ground freezes regularly forget this plant. It needs rock mulch if you live in an area that has extreme summer temperatures and no summer rain.Culture: Jojoba plants produce flower buds on the new summer growth. The plants must experience a certain number of chilling hours, after which the buds will mature and open in response to a late winter rain.Uses: Hedge, street medians, privacy screen, valuable agricultural plant for oil (from berries). Sowing Simmondsia chinensis Seeds:For best results, please follow the instructions in the order provided.Scarify: Lightly sand a small part of the seed with sandpaper or a file, then pour Hot water over seeds. Soak for 24 hours.Stratify: NoneGermination: Sow 1” Deep. Keep Warm and moist (Not wet).For more information about seed pretreatment and growing trees and shrubs from seed, please download this .pdf:https://cdn.forestresearch.gov.uk/2007/08/fcpg018.pdf Germination: Seeds Packets are labeled with seed name and sowing details. Seeds have not been pretreated unless specified in the listing. Seed is not a specific Cultivar (Variety) unless specified in the listing. Due to the many factors involved in successful germination, Seller cannot be responsible for buyers growing methods or mistakes. I have provided what I believe to be a good overview on this page (which you are free to print for further reference), however, it is still recommended to check specialist literature for more details and practices specific to your climate and soil conditions to avoid mistakes in the germination and growing processShipping and Discounts: All items are set up to automatically discount as follows:Any promotional offers are discounted by using the “Add to Cart “only.To qualify for any discounts, items must be paid together, on the same eBay invoice.If paid separately, no discounts will be applied though seller reserves the right to ship together.If there are any questions or concerns about the amount due, please message me before paying so I can address all of your concerns before there is a problem. Buyer assumes responsibility once payment has been made.International Buyer’s: It is the buyer’s responsibility to know their countries customs laws. Plant and plant materials including seeds may be restricted from importing to your country. Please check with your customs agency and or post office before purchasing. Upon purchasing this item Buyer accepts the risk of item being confiscated and/or destroyed by customs and Seller will not be held liable for this. If you are on my exclusion list it is because: “Plant and plant materials including seeds” are restricted from importing to your country, it is enforced by your country and there is a high rate of customs checking for this. Import duties, taxes, and customs charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer’s responsibility. Please check with your country’s customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to buying. Tracking is not available for International items. International mail varies from 10 to 30 business days (postal working days) and some countries require certain International items to be picked up at your post office. Upon processing your order, you will be sent a customs number, your shipping date and your shipping address, which you will need in order to retrieve it from your post office if you are required to do so. If these are not picked up in a reasonable time they may be returned or discarded. All mail items are subject to inspection by customs when crossing into another country. If stopped for inspection this will cause serious delays in receiving your item(s). You may or may not be notified of this. This may require you to pick up your package from your post office.