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Castela emoryi
	Castela emoryi
Conservation status
	; Apparently Secure (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Simaroubaceae
Genus:	Castela
Species:	C. emoryi
Binomial name
	Castela emoryi; (A.Gray) Moran & Felger; Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 15(4):40. 1968
Synonyms
	Holacantha emoryi A. Gray

Castela emoryi, with the common names crucifixion thorn, Emory's crucifixion-thorn, and Spanish: chaparro amargosa,^[2] is a shrub species in the genus Castela of the family Simaroubaceae.^[3]

Distribution

The plant is native to the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Deserts of North America.

It is found in southern California, Arizona, and Sonora state (México).^[3]

The species is dioecious and occurs in the moistest areas in the hottest, driest deserts within its range; it is considered poor in germination.^[4]

Description

Castela emoryi is often less than 1 metre (3.3 ft), and occasionally to grows 4 metres (13 ft) or more.^[5]

Crucifixion thorn is mostly leafless,^[6] ^[4] its sharp branches are green and perform photosynthesis.^[7] 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.^[8]

It is ranked on the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants, as an endangered species within California, and more common elsewhere.^[9] It is threatened by solar energy development and military activities within its California range.^[9] The species is classified as "Salvage restricted" in Arizona.^[2] ^[10]

green thorns
fruit cluster

Ecology

Castela emoryi is one of the few plants in its habitat 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, and pollination is performed by wasps and bees, ^[2] particularly bumblebees. ^[11]

Uses

The Yavapai people traditionally used this as a medicinal plant, making a dermatological aid from its bud's sap.^[12]

Insecticide and fungicide

Castela emoryi is a plant toxin insecticide. It contains quassinoids such as glaucarubolone glucoside which has antifeedant properties against termites such as Reticulitermes flavipes,^[13] or potential fungicidal activity for the control of grape downy mildew.^[14]

It also contains glaucarubol, a compound characteristic of the family, ellagic acid, betulin and (—)-syringaresinol.^[15]

References

^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Chaparro – Castela emoryi". United Plant Savers. 10 September 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Castela emoryi EMORY'S CRUCIFIXION-THORN". Jepson Herbarium.
^ ^a ^b "Castela emoryi Crucifixion-thorn". NatureServe.
^ CalFlora: Castela emoryi
^ "crucifixion thorn Simaroubaceae Castela emoryi (A. Gray) Moran & Felger". Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation.
^ "The Crucifixion Thorn Chaparro Amargosa Castela emoryi". DesertUSA.
^ "Castela emoryi". Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
^ ^a ^b California Native Plant Society−CNPS, Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants: Castela emoryi . accessed 9.9.2015.
^ "Protected Arizona Native Plants". Arizona Department of Agriculture.
^ "Castela emoryi, Crucifixion Thorn". Southwest Desert Flora. Retrieved Dec 10, 2022.
^ University of Michigan at Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany for Castela emoryi
^ Antifeedant properties of natural products from Parthenium argentatum, Parthenium argentatum, ×Parthenium tomentosum (Asteraceae) and Castela emoryi (Simaroubeaceae) against Reticulitermes flavipes. Carmen Gutiérrez, Azucena Gonzalez-Coloma and Joseph J. Hoffmann, Industrial Crops and Products, Volume 10, Issue 1, June 1999, Pages 35–40, doi:10.1016/S0926-6690(99)00003-5
^ Glaucarubolone glucoside, a potential fungicidal agent for the control of grape downy mildew. Joseph J. Hoffmann, Shivanand D. Jolad, Louis K. Hutter, Steven P. McLaughlin, Steven D. Savage, Scott D. Cunningham, Jean Luc. Genet and George R. Ramsey, J. Agric. Food Chem., 1992, 40 (6), pages 1056–1057, doi:10.1021/jf00018a029
^ Constituents of holacantha emoryi. W. Stöcklin, L.B. De Silva and T.A. Geissman, Phytochemistry, Volume 8, Issue 8, August 1969, Pages 1565–1569, doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(00)85931-2