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prairie baccharis or false willow, prairie false willow

broom baccharis, desert broom, greasewood, groundsel, rosin-brush

Habit Perennials or subshrubs, 25–60 cm (rhizomatous, bases woody). Shrubs, 100–400 cm (much branched, broomlike).
Stems

simple, erect or procumbent, rigid (woody proximally), herbaceous and leafy distally (dying back annually), striate-angled, glabrous, non-resinous.

erect, striate, sharply angled, green distally, glabrous, resinous.

Leaves

present at flowering;

sessile;

blades (1-nerved) linear to narrowly lanceolate, 10–40 × 1–4 mm, bases narrowed, margins minutely undulate, apices acute, faces glabrous, gland-dotted (distal leaves reduced, scalelike).

cauline (proximal withered and/or sparse at flowering);

sessile;

blades (1-nerved) linear-lanceolate, 5–15 × 1–2 mm, reduced to scales distally, thick, bases narrowed, margins entire (often revolute), apices acute, faces glabrous, minutely gland-dotted, resinous.

Involucres

campanulate;

staminate 4–7 mm, pistillate 7–9 mm.

cylindric to hemispheric;

staminate 4–5.2 mm, pistillate 3–8 mm.

Pistillate florets

20–30;

corollas 3.5–4 mm.

19–31;

corollas 2.5–3.5 mm.

Staminate florets

15–20;

corollas 4–5 mm.

18–35;

corollas 4.2–5 mm.

Phyllaries

lanceolate, 1–7 mm, margins scarious, erose-ciliate, medians green (midribs dark, keeled, dilated), apices acute to acuminate (erose-ciliate, abaxial faces glabrous, minutely papillose-gland-dotted).

ovate to lanceolate, 1–5 mm, margins yellowish, slightly scarious, medians green to yellow, apices rounded to acute (greenish, abaxial faces glabrous, resinous).

Heads

(on short peduncles) in loose corymbiform arrays.

borne singly (on nearly leafless branches) or (laterally on branchlets) in dense paniculiform arrays.

Cypselae

3–5 mm, prominently 6–8-nerved, glabrous;

pappi 11–14 mm.

2–2.6 mm, finely 8–10-nerved, glabrous;

pappi 7–12 mm.

2n

= 18.

Baccharis texana

Baccharis sarothroides

Phenology Flowering Aug–Nov. Flowering Aug–Nov.
Habitat Dry prairies, hillsides, mesas, brushy flats Gravelly and sandy washes, roadsides, railroads, mesquite flats, chaparral
Elevation 100–200 m (300–700 ft) 50–1500 m (200–4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
NM; OK; TX; Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas)
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; TX; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Baccharis texana is recognized by its low, subshrub habit, simple, more or less herbaceous and leafy stems arising from woody bases, narrow leaves with minutely undulate margins, large pedunculate heads, and erose-ciliate phyllaries with dilated midribs.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Baccharis sarothroides is recognized by its broomlike habit, narrow, sharply angular, nearly leafless, green stems, soon-withering proximal leaves, scalelike distal leaves, and heads often terminal on long branches. Specimens from California have smaller heads that sometimes are arranged laterally along the stems.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 20, p. 33. FNA vol. 20, p. 33.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Baccharis Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Baccharis
Sibling taxa
B. angustifolia, B. bigelovii, B. brachyphylla, B. dioica, B. glomeruliflora, B. glutinosa, B. halimifolia, B. havardii, B. malibuensis, B. neglecta, B. pilularis, B. plummerae, B. pteronioides, B. salicifolia, B. salicina, B. sarothroides, B. sergiloides, B. thesioides, B. vanessae, B. wrightii
B. angustifolia, B. bigelovii, B. brachyphylla, B. dioica, B. glomeruliflora, B. glutinosa, B. halimifolia, B. havardii, B. malibuensis, B. neglecta, B. pilularis, B. plummerae, B. pteronioides, B. salicifolia, B. salicina, B. sergiloides, B. texana, B. thesioides, B. vanessae, B. wrightii
Synonyms Linosyris texana
Name authority (Torrey & A. Gray) A. Gray: Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 75. (1849) A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 17: 211. (1882)
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