Trees and Shrubs Overview
Ponderosa Pine   Pinyon Pine   Utah Juniper   Gambel Oak   Douglas-fir
Cliffrose   Apache Plume   Mormon Tea   Utah Serviceberry   Fernbush   Wax Currant   Big Sagebrush
Fremont Barberry   Rabbit Brush   Banana Yucca   Utah Agave   Mountain Mahogany   Blueberry Elder
Rock Mat   Brickellbush   Buffalo Berry

CLIFFROSE

Rose Family

Cowania mexicana

Cliffrose

This shaggy, twisty shrub or tree is often only 6 to 8 feet tall, but at the canyon rim it grows to 18 feet at least. Prominent large specimens occur along the Hermit Road (West Rim Drive) and along Highway 64 east. The champion tree was close to Mather Point. Measurements of that fine specimen were: height, 18 feet; trunk circumference, 33 inches breast high, average spread of branches, 18 feet. Unfortunately, the tree was burnt to the ground during a not-so-controlled burn in summer of 2004. Most cliffrose trunks are about 4 to 8 inches in diameter with reddish brown bark. The Navajo Indians historically used the bark for cradle linings--it is very absorbent and unlike juniper bark, they say it causes no rash. The stout branches, when straight, were used for arrows. Medicinally, the cliffrose is an emetic, good for stomach problems and nausea. The plant is evergreen.


Cliffrose Flower

Cliffrose blooms persistently and profusely from spring through fall and into November at the South Rim. The blossoms are creamy or yellowish (in this photo they appear whiter than in reality), up to an inch wide and quite fragrant. Leaves are ½ to ¾ inch long and deeply divided into 3 to 5 narrow lobes. Leaf edges are rolled under. Unlike Apache plume, the leaves are glandular: covered with tiny white dots.




Cliffrose Plumes

Plumed seeds appear after the flowers, about 5 to 10 seeds per flower, each seed with a 1 or 2-inch silvery-white plume.






Trees and Shrubs Overview
Ponderosa Pine   Pinyon Pine   Utah Juniper   Gambel Oak   Douglas-fir
Cliffrose   Apache Plume   Mormon Tea   Utah Serviceberry   Fernbush   Wax Currant   Big Sagebrush
Fremont Barberry   Rabbit Brush   Banana Yucca   Utah Agave   Mountain Mahogany   Blueberry Elder
Rock Mat   Brickellbush   Buffalo Berry
Copyright © 2015
, Canyon Dave Tours, Inc. All rights reserved