Grayia spinosa (Hook.) Moq.

vernacular spiny hopsage — species · Chenopodiaceae

USDA: GRSP
GBIF: 5383933
Rank: species

spiny hopsage (Grayia spinosa) — Platephotograph · Corey LangeCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Subshrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Chenopodiaceae Vent.
Genus: Grayia

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 10 counties across 2 states/territories

Legend Native · 10 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: Medium
Salinity: High
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 160 min.
Precipitation: 8–25 in/yr
pH range: 6.5–9
Root depth: 20 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 3 ft
Height @ 20 y: 3 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: White-Gray
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: Red
Fruit colour: White
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 346,991
Propagation: seed, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Contracting Only
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: High
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Medium
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 10 counties across 2 states/territories.

Arizona view state ↗ 3 N ▾

Montana view state ↗ 7 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/GRSP ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5383933 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T07:25:30Z