Jojoba 262116 222395803 2008-06-29T03:26:19Z AlnoktaBOT 3096998 robot Adding: [[ar:هوهوبا]] {{Taxobox | name = Jojoba | image = Simmondsia chinensis.jpg | image_width = 240px | image_caption = ''Simmondsia chinensis'' foliage and fruit | regnum = [[Plant]]ae | divisio = [[Magnoliophyta]] | classis = [[Magnoliopsida]] | ordo = [[Caryophyllales]] | familia = '''Simmondsiaceae''' | familia_authority = van Tieghem ex [[J. L. Reveal|Reveal]] & [[Ruurd Dirk Hoogland|Hoogland]] | genus = '''''Simmondsia''''' | species = '''''S. chinensis''''' | binomial = ''Simmondsia chinensis'' | binomial_authority = ([[Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link|Link]]) [[Camillo Karl Schneider|C.K.Schneid.]] }} '''Jojoba''' (''Simmondsia chinensis''), pronounced "hō-'''hō''''-bə", is a [[shrub]] native to the [[Sonoran]] and [[Mojave Desert|Mojave]] [[desert]]s of [[Arizona]], [[California]], and [[Mexico]]. It is the sole species of the family '''Simmondsiaceae''', and sometimes placed in the box family, '''Buxaceae'''. It is also known as goat nut, deer nut, pignut, wild hazel, quinine nut, coffeeberry, and gray box bush.<ref name="desertmuseum">{{cite book | last = Steven J. Phillips, Patricia Wentworth Comus (eds.) | title = A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert | publisher = University of California Press | date = 2000 | pages = 256–257 | isbn = 0-520-21980-5 }}</ref> [[Image:Simmondsia_chinensis_male_flower.jpg|left|thumb|Close-up of male flowers.]] [[Image:jojoba1343.JPG|left|thumb|Prevalent in the Superstition Mountains (Arizona).]] Jojoba grows to 1–2 m tall, with a broad, dense crown. The [[leaf|leaves]] are opposite, oval in shape, 2–4 cm long and 1.5-3 cm broad, thick waxy glaucous gray-green in color. The [[flower]]s are small, greenish-yellow, with 5–6 sepals and no petals. Each plant is [[plant sexuality|single-sex]], either male or female, with [[hermaphrodites]] being extremely rare. The [[fruit]] is an acorn-shaped ovoid, three-angled [[capsule (fruit)|capsule]] 1–2 cm long, partly enclosed at the base by the sepals. The mature seed is a hard oval, dark brown in color and contains an oil (liquid wax) content of approximately 54%. An average-size bush produces a [[kilogram]] of [[pollen]], to which few humans are allergic.<ref name="desertmuseum"/> Jojoba foliage provides year-round food opportunity for many animals, including [[deer]], [[javelina]], [[bighorn sheep]], and livestock. The nuts are eaten by [[squirrels]], [[rabbits]], other [[rodents]], and larger birds. Only [[Bailey's Pocket Mouse]], however, is known to be able to digest the wax found inside the jojoba nut. In large quantities, the seed meal is toxic to many [[mammals]], and the indigestible wax acts as a [[laxative]] in humans. The [[Seri]], who utilize nearly every edible plant in their territory, don't regard the beans as real food and in the past ate it only in emergencies.<ref name="desertmuseum"/> Despite its scientific name ''Simmondsia chinensis'', Jojoba does not originate in [[China]]; the botanist [[Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link|Johann Link]], originally named the species ''Buxus chinensis'', after misreading [[Thomas Nuttall|Nuttall]]'s collection label "Calif" as "China". Jojoba was briefly renamed ''Simmondsia californica'', but priority rules require that the original specific epithet be used. The common name should also not be confused with the similar-sounding [[Jujube]] (''Ziziphus zizyphus''), an unrelated plant. ==History== The name "jojoba" originated with the [[O'odham]] people of the [[Sonoran Desert]] in the southwest [[United States]], who treated burns with an antioxidant salve made from a paste of the jojoba nut.<ref name="desertmuseum"/> ==Cultivation and uses== [[Image:jojoba1342.JPG|left|thumb|Lost Dutchman State Park (Arizona).]][[Image:Jojoba.seed.jpg|thumb|left|Jojoba seed]] Jojoba is grown for the liquid [[wax]] (commonly called [[jojoba oil]]) in its [[seed]]s. This oil is rare in that it is an extremely long (C36-C46) straight-chain [[wax ester]] and not a [[triglyceride]], making jojoba and its derivative [[jojoba ester]]s more similar to [[sebum]] and [[spermaceti|whale oil]] than to traditional vegetable oils. Jojoba oil is easily refined to be odorless, colorless and oxidatively stable, and is often used in [[cosmetics]] as a moisturizer and as a [[carrier oil]] for specialty fragrances. It also has potential use as both a [[biodiesel]] [[fuel]] for cars and trucks, as well as a biodegradable lubricant. Because [[sperm whales]] are endangered, [[plantations]] of jojoba have been established in a number of desert and semi-desert areas, predominantly in Argentina, Israel, Mexico, Palestinian Authority, Peru, and the USA. It is currently the [[Sonoran Desert]]'s second most economically valuable native plant (overshadowed only by the Washington palms used in horticulture). Selective breeding is developing plants that produce more beans with higher wax content, as well as other characteristics that will facilitate harvesting.<ref name ="desertmuseum"/> ==References== {{reflist}} == External links == {{Commons|Simmondsia chinensis}} *[http://www.life.umd.edu/emeritus/reveal/pbio/pb450/rosi17.html Selected Families of Angiosperms: Rosidae] An explanation of the scientific name *[http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993464 Jojoba oil as biodiesel] *[http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/jojoba.html Alternative Field Crops Manual] *[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SICH USDA Plants Profile: ''Simmondsia chinensis''] [[Category:Caryophyllales]] [[Category:Plant families]] [[Category:Flora of California]] [[Category:Flora of the Sonoran Desert]] [[Category:Flora of Utah]] [[Category:Waxes]] [[Category:Monogeneric plant families]] [[Category:Monotypic plant genera]] [[ar:هوهوبا]] [[de:Jojoba]] [[es:Simmondsia chinensis]] [[eo:Jojobo]] [[fr:Jojoba]] [[he:חוחובה]] [[nl:Jojoba]] [[ja:ホホバ]] [[pt:Jojoba]] [[ru:Жожоба]] [[zh:霍霍巴]]