Menodora spinescens is a species of flowering plant in the olive family known by the common name spiny menodora. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in varied mountain, canyon, and desert habitat in California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona.Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileBiota of North America Program, Menodora spinescens Menodora spinescens is a shrub producing upright stems up to 90 centimeters tall, branching densely to form a thicket, the smallest branches tipped with spines. It is coated sparsely in short hairs. The fleshy green leaves are oblong or oval in shape, up to a centimeter long, and mostly borne in clusters. The inflorescence is a cluster of tube-throated flowers growing in axils, in splits between leaf clusters. The flowers are pink in bud and mostly white in bloom. The fruit is a capsule.Gray, Asa. 1868. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 7: 388 Menodora spinescensHickman, J. C. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California 1–1400. University of California Press, Berkeley.Cronquist, A.J., N. H. Holmgren & P. K. Holmgren. 1997. Vascular plants of the intermountain west, U.S.A., subclass Rosidae (except Fabales). 3A: 1–446. In A.J. Cronquist, A. H. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren, J. L. Reveal & P. K. Holmgren (eds.) Intermountain Flora, Hafner Pub. Co., New York.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Menodora spinescens has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens1
Marker genes1
GenBank sequences1
eDNA detections1
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★rbcL1
plant barcode
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type1 262 records
Wild obs. + sensor863
Museum / vouchered399
Origin
Native139
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO2 820 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy90% within 1 km
≤100 m 554≤1 km 45≤10 km 37>10 km 29
665 georeferenced · 198 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor863
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy60% within 1 km
≤100 m 22≤1 km 85≤10 km 67>10 km 5
179 georeferenced · 220 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence399
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions30 of 45 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Claremont, US
108
Riverside, US
53
San Diego, US
28
Bronx, US
22
Logan, US
21
Santa Barbara, US
15
ASUlocation not on record
11
Davis, US
10
Flagstaff, US
9
Severin-McDaniel Insect Collectionlocation not on record
7
US
7
Provo, US
7
Arcata, US
7
Henderson, US
7
Los Angeles, US
6
Phoenix, US
5
Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalitionlocation not on record
5
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
5
San Luis Obispo, US
5
Ensenada, MX
4
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
4
CASlocation not on record
4
Austin, US
4
Wuzhou, CN
3
Long Beach, US
3
Angwin, US
3
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
3
Arizona State University Biocollectionslocation not on record
2
Saint Louis, US
2
San Jose, US
2
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
2
Northridge, US
1
Pullman, US
1
Boise, US
1
Pocatello, US
1
The University of Arizonalocation not on record
1
Moscow, US
1
Fredericton Stock Culture Collectionlocation not on record
1
Irvine, US
1
Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record
1
INFlocation not on record
1
EL PASO, US
1
Bureau of Land Managementlocation not on record
1
Green Bay, US
1
DOI/NPS, Greenbelt Parklocation not on record
1
45 institutions · 388 of 399 vouchered records shown · 11 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA1 detections
Where the DNA of Menodora spinescens was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found1
Studies independent surveys1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 1 detections have coordinates
Open the map0 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation1 languages↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 262 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI1 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics1 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗