PLANT: Evergreen shrubs or small trees, to 5 m tall, densely leaved; old bark shaggy; twigs reddish, puberulent then glabrate. LEAVES: simple, entire, repand, ovate (sometimes broadly so), 4-8.5 cm long, 3-5 cm wide, leathery, bright green, glabrous, conduplicate (tending to fold along the midrib, especially in dried specimens); tip acuminate; base rounded-truncate; petioles 10-20 mm long. INFLORESCENCE: dense panicles, 2.5-3.5 cm long, glabrous; bracts ovate, sparsely pubescent, to 2 mm long. FLOWERS: to 5 mm long; sepals magenta, ciliate; petals cream to pinkish, ciliate. FRUIT: lenticular-orbicular, 5-7 mm in diameter, dark reddish, glandular-pubescent, viscid. NOTES: Open, rocky hillsides with interior chaparral and at upper edge of Sonoran Desert, sometimes along washes: Coconino, Gila, Graham, Maricopa, Mohave, Pinal, and Yavapai cos.; 550-1900 m (1800-6200 ft); Mar-May; s CA and Baja CA to AZ. The populations of Rhus ovata in AZ are disjunct from the Transverse and Peninsular Ranges of southern California. Its broad, shiny, evergreen leaves make Rhus ovata conspicuous on chaparral and desert hillsides. REFERENCES: John L. Anderson, 2006, Vascular Plants of Arizona: Anacardiaceae. CANOTIA 3 (2): 13-22.