Safe Forage & Landscape Plants for Desert Tortoises
Landscaping a tortoise enclosure can be a lot of fun. But let’s face it. It can also be daunting.
Providing a safe and happy home for your tortoise is important! Imagine living in an environment you will be in all day, every day. Sound boring? It doesn’t have to be. The following lists are of native plants that can work wonderfully when providing food,
hiding places, and variety in a tortoise enclosure. Always remember to look at things from a tortoise’s point of view-which is only a few inches off of the ground.
Make enclosures as large as possible. An adult tortoise may travel up to 220 yards in a single day-the length of two football fields!
Desert Tortoise eating Mirabilis laevis, (Desert Wishbone) a native perennial plant.
If purchasing plants, be absolutely certain that they have not been treated with pesticides at any time. Tortoises are very sensitive to chemical exposures, often with devastating consequences. The following tables are searchable. You may also extend the tables to see all items that are listed on it.
There are three tables on this page. Scroll down to see all information provided.
Edible Native Plants for Tortoises
| Common and Botanical Name | Edible Part(s) |
|---|---|
| Apache plume Fallugia paradoxa | Flowers |
| Birdsfoot Acmispon strigosus | Entire Plant |
| Blazing Star Mentzelia albicaulis/veatchiana | Entire Plant |
| Blue grama grass Bouteloua gracilis | Entire Plant |
| Chuparosa Justicia californica | Flowers |
| Cottontop grass Digitaria californica | Entire Plant |
| Curly mesquite grass Hilaria belangeri | Entire Plant |
| Desert chicory Rafinequia nemexicana | Entire Plant |
| Desert dandelion Malacothrix spp | Entire Plant |
| Desert honeysuckle Anisacanthus thurberi | Flowers and leaves |
| Desert plantain Plantago ovata | Entire Plant |
| Desert rock pea Lotus rigidus | Entire Plant |
| Desert tidy tips Layia glandulosa | Entire Plant |
| Desert Willow Chilopsis linearis | Flowers |
| Desert wishbone, Mirabilis laevis | Entire Plant |
| Evening primrose Oenothera spp | Entire Plant |
| Fairy duster Calliandra eriophylla | Flowers |
| Fluffgrass Dasyochloa pulchella | Entire Plant |
| Galleta grass Pleuraphis spp | Entire Plant |
| Globemallow Sphaeralcea ambigua | Entire Plant |
| Indian mallow Abutilon palmeri | Entire Plant |
| Indian ricegrass Stipa hymenoides | Entire Plant |
| Lupine Lupinus spp | Entire Plant |
| Milkvetch Astragalus spp | Entire Plant |
| Needle grama Bouteloua aristodoides | Entire Plant |
| Owl’s clover Castilleja exserta | Entire Plant |
| Parry's rock pink Stephanomeria parryi | Entire Plant |
| Pincushion Chaenactis spp | Entire Plant |
| Rattlesnake Weed Euphorbia albomarginata | Entire Plant |
| Rock hibiscus Hibiscus denudatus | Entire Plant |
| Sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus | Entire Plant |
| Sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula | Entire Plant |
| Spiderlings Boerhavia spp | Entire Plant |
| Windmills Allionia incarnata | Entire Plant |
| Woolly plantain Plantago patagonica | Entire Plant |
Edible Weeds For Tortoises
| Common and Botanical Name | |
|---|---|
| Broadleaf Plantain Plantago major | |
| Chicory Cichorium intybus | |
| Common Chickweed Stellaria media | |
| Common Mallow Malva neglecta | |
| Dandelion Taraxum officinale | |
| Greater Plantain Plantago media | |
| Heartsease Viola tricolor | |
| Hoary Plantain Plantago media | |
| Hoary Plantain Plantago media | |
| Kidney Weed Dichondra repens | |
| Lamb's Lettuce Valerianella locusta | |
| Mauritian Mallow Malva s. mauritanica | |
| Mouse Ear Chickweed Cerastium fontanum | |
| Ribgrass Plantian Plantago lancealata | |
| Shepherd's Purse Capsella bursa-pastoris | |
| Sowthistles Sonchus spp | |
| Stonecrops Sedum reflexum |
Safe Landscape Shrubs for Tortoise Areas
| Common and Botanical Name | Also a Food Source? |
|---|---|
| Desert senna Senna covesii | |
| Fairy duster Calliandra eriophylla | Flowers |
| Desert buckwheat Eriogonum fasciculatum | |
| Desert ironwood tree Olneya tesota | Flowers |
| Palo verde tree Parkinsonia spp. | Flowers |
| Honey mesquite tree Prosopis glandulosa | Flowers |
| Screwbean mesquite tree Prosopsis pubescens | Flowers |
| Joshua tree Yucca brevifolia | |
| Mojave yucca Yucca schidigera | |
| Chuparosa Justicia californica | Flowers |
| Creosote bush Larrea tridentata | |
| Desert honeysuckle Anisacanthus thurberi | Flowers |
| Ocotillo Fouquieria splendens | |
| Brittlebush Encelia farinosa | |
| Apache plume Fallugia paradoxa | Flowers |
| Bladderpod Peritoma arborea | |
| Winterfat Krascheninnikovia lanata | |
| Desert almond Prunus fasciculata | |
| Four wing saltbush Atriplex canescens | |
| Cattle Spinach Atriplex polycarpa | |
| Desert senna Senna covesii |