Index / Search / Grayia spinosa

§1 Plant — species · Chenopodiaceae

Grayia spinosa (Hook.) Moq.

vernacular spiny hopsage


USDA
GRSP
GBIF
5383933
Rank
species
spiny hopsage (Grayia spinosa)
Platephotograph · Corey LangeCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub, Subshrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Chenopodiaceae Vent.
Genus
Grayia
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§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

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 7 of 56 Montana counties.


§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-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z