Jojoba

Jojoba Exhibit, Near Boulders, Desert Foothills Scenic Drive, 1995

The miners and pioneers who settled the foothills area used the jojoba as a substitute for coffee, roasting the seeds to reduce the bitter taste. Also known as the coffee bush, gray box bush, goatnut, deernut, wild-hazel, quinine-plant and coffeeberry.

• A shrub with grayish-green, leathery leaves.
• Can grow to 7′ in height.
• Blooms during the December through July time period. The greenish yellow flowers are very small. Male and female flowers are on separate plants.
• It tends to flourish along washes, on alluvial fans and dry, rocky slopes at elevations between 1,000 and 5,000′.
• Jojoba are browsed by deer and rodents such as pack rats, kangaroo mice and squirrels eat their seeds. The waxy oil from jojoba seeds is used commercially in medicines and cosmetics.