Thamnosma montana Torr. & Frém.

vernacular turpentinebroom — species · Rutaceae

USDA: THMO
GBIF: 3190417
Rank: species

turpentinebroom (Thamnosma montana) — Platephotograph · Paul G. JohnsonCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Subshrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Rutaceae Juss.
Genus: Thamnosma

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 13 counties across 3 states/territories

Legend Native · 13 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: None
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: High

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -1 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 193 min.
Precipitation: 5–10 in/yr
pH range: 7.5–8
Root depth: 6 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 2 ft
Height @ 20 y: 1 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Yellow-Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Purple
Fruit colour: Black
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Winter
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 35,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 13 counties across 3 states/territories.

Arizona view state ↗ 8 N ▾

Nevada view state ↗ 3 N ▾

Utah view state ↗ 2 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/THMO ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/3190417 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T14:17:10Z