Chuckawallabush

Description

Tetracoccus hallii is a bushy, branching shrub, hairless in texture except for the new twigs, which have rough hairs. The small leaves occur in clusters along the branches, each leathery, teardrop-shaped leaf measuring just a few millimeters long. The plant is dioecious, with male and female individuals producing different types of flowers. The staminate flowers occur in clusters, each flower with 4 to 6 rounded sepals and 4 to 8 erect stamens. The pistillate flower occurs singly. Its bloom period is January through May, from the lower Sonoran to the higher Mojave deserts. It produces a rounded, woolly fruit with usually three chambers. The fruit is around a centimeter long when mature and contains one or two seeds per chamber.