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Rhus kearneyi is known from the Tinajas Altas, Cabeza Prieta, and Gila Mountains of southwestern Arizona, at elevations of 1000 to 1500 feet. At first it was confused with R. integrifolia of coastal southern California and northern Baja California. The puberulence of the twigs is sparser and not closely appressed, leaf bases are cordate or sub-cordate, sepals are non-glandular, and petals are non-ciliate. Twigs, bracts and leaves bear short glands easily detached, and leaves are sparsely puberulent. Plants are large showy shrubs to 3 m high, evergreen, dioecious, with creamy white flowers clustered at the ends of branches during March. Petioles and young twigs are a striking reddish color. Plants are found growing along canyons and drainages in releatively small numbers. They have few natural threats, as they are unpalatable to grazing animals and are located on the Barry Goldwater Bombing Range, a military reservation with limited access and no immediate prospect of development.
Desert Botanical Garden collected seeds of R. kearneyi in 1986. Plants are easily propagated from seeds and cuttings, but do not thrive in containers for longer than a few years. Over fifty plants can be found in ornamental exhibits. The Garden has produced thousands of seeds in cultivation on plants grown to reproductive maturity from field-collected seeds.
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