Botanical Name: Cowania mexicana
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Common Name: Cliffrose  
Plant photo of: Cowania mexicana
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Water Saving Tip:

Replace turf with groundcovers, trees, and shrubs. If you have areas where no one uses the grass, patches that do not grow well, or a turf area too small to water without runoff, consider replacing the turf with water-efficient landscaping.

  • Anatomy

  • Culture

  • Design

Plant Type

Broadleaf Evergreen, Shrub

 

Height Range

3-6', 6-12'

 

Flower Color

Yellow, White

 

Flower Season

Spring, Summer

 

Leaf Color

Dark Green

 

Bark Color

Brown, Grey, Red

 

Fruit Color

White

 

Fruit Season

Fall

Sun

Full, Half

 

Water

Very Low

 

Growth Rate

Moderate

 

Soil Type

Clay, Rocky

 

Soil Condition

Average, Poor, Well-drained, Dry

 

Soil pH

Neutral, Basic

 

Adverse Factors

n/a

Design Styles

Meadow, Mediterranean, Spanish, Native Garden

 

Accenting Features

Showy Flowers

 

Seasonal Interest

n/a

 

Location Uses

Background, Shrub Border, Foundation

 

Special Uses

Hedge, Screen, Naturalizing

 

Attracts Wildlife

Birds

Information by: Stephanie Duer
Photographer:

  • Description

  • Notes

This Utah native is a broad-leafed evergreen small to medium shrub, growing 3 to 5 feet tall and wide, though may reach 10 or more feet. Leaves are small, leathery and shiny, and dark green. Flowers are potentilla-like, and creamy white to yellow and appear April thru June. Flowers are followed by little fruits with silvery tails, enjoyed by winter songbirds. The bark is green to reddish-brown when young, becoming black, scaly, and shreddy in age. A good foundation or shrub border plant. Tolerants drought and some shade.
Grow in full to part sun, in well drained soils. Typically found in rocky, limestone soils with Utah juniper, pinion pine, big sage, and gambel oak.