Growth form is an erect, stout, much branched evergreen shrub, 1 to 8 feet tall.
Flowers bloom from June to September; fruit is borne August to September.
Valuable, palatable, and nutritious feed for cattle, antelope, and deer. The fruit is eaten by scaled quail, rock squirrel, gray spotted squirrel, and jack rabbits.
The Southwest Indians would grind the seed and use as a baking powder in bread making.
Adapted to a wide range of soil conditions. It is highly tolerant of drought, salinity, and alkalinity. Occurs on sand dunes, in gravelly washes, mesas, ridges, alluvial plains, and slopes.
