Fabaceae
Desert ironwood
Olneya tesota
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Genus
- Olneya
Pet and kid safety: not checked yet. Check pet-safe plants

Is yours looking unwell? Scan your plant — free
Common names
By language (10)
- Arabic
- أولنيا
- arz
- اولنيا
- Chinese
- 沙漠铁木
- English
- Desert ironwood, Ironwood
- German
- Wüsteneisenholz
- Hebrew
- אולנייה מדברית
- Japanese
- デザートアイアンウッド
- Persian
- آهنچوب صحرایی
- Portuguese
- Olneya
- Spanish
- Olneya, Palo fierro
Flowers
- Flower colour
- purple (USDA PLANTS Database)
Characteristics
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- In the US and Canada
- Lower 48 states: native
Photos

Photo: Rufous-crowned Sparrow, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Sources: classification from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.