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Rosy-petalled Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Shrubs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
White-rose, 5-petaled flower with projecting stamens

General: Rosy-petalled Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea) is a shrub that tends to grow low (3 ft, max 6-ft) and can be recognized by gray bark; leaves that are opposite, oval, and toothed; and large white-rose, 5-petaled (rarely 6) flowers that are held in erect terminal panicles. Fresh stems, leaves, and flower buds are hairy. Fruits are dry capsules containing many small seeds.

A related species, Four-petalled Cliffbush (Jamesia tetrapetala), growing in the mountains of E Nevada and W Utah, has individual flowers (not panicles) with only four petals.

The species (Fivepetal Cliffbush) grows in mountains of the southwestern states, and this variety (Rosy-petalled Cliffbush) occurs in California and Nevada. Rosy-petalled Cliffbush is a uncommon component of vegetation communities in moist areas in our middle-elevation mountains in the Upper Sonoran (Pinyon-Juniper Woodland), Transition (Yellow Pine Forest), and Canadian (Pine-Fir Forest) life zones. Around Las Vegas, look for Rosy-Petalled Cliffbush up on Mt. Charleston and in the Sheep Range, especially on shaded soils and on the walls of limestone canyons in places such as Stanley B Spring, Big Falls, and above Cold Creek.

Family: Hydrangea (Hydrangeaceae); also called Cliff Jamesia, Jamesia, Cliffbush, and Waxflower

Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Open shrub growing on cool, limestone cliff
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Open shrub growing on cool, limestone cliff
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Open shrub growing on soils at base of limestone cliff
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Open shrub growing on soils at base of limestone cliff
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Open shrub growing on cool, limestone cliff
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Leaves are opposite, oval, and toothed
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea) Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Leaves are opposite, oval, toothed, and hairy
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Note gray bark
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Leaves are opposite, oval, toothed, and hairy
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Leaves are opposite, oval, toothed, and hairy (especially on underside)
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Flower buds opening
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Fresh stems, leaves, and flower buds are hairy
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Flowers held in erect terminal panicles
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Last of the flowers that are held in erect terminal panicles
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Flowers white with a rose wash
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Five petals with projecting stamens
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea) Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea) Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea) Fivepetal Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Rosy-Petalled Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Six-petalled Cliffbush?
Rosy-Petalled Cliffbush (Jamesia americana var. rosea)
Six-petalled Cliffbush?

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
copyright; Last updated 170616

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