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hollyleaf brickellbush, pungent brickellbush, spear leaf brickellia, spearleaf brickellbush

Habit Shrubs, 20–50 cm.
Stems

densely branched, glandular-puberulent.

Leaves

opposite or alternate;

petioles 0–3 mm;

blades 3–4-nerved from bases (veins prominent), deltate, lanceolate, or ovate, 10–50 × 5–25 mm, bases acute to truncate or cordate, margins usually sharply dentate or dentate-serrate, rarely entire, apices acute to acuminate, faces glabrous or strigose and minutely glandular-puberulent.

Peduncles

10–70 mm, hispid to hispidulous and stipitate-glandular.

Involucres

cylindric to broadly campanulate, 9–15 mm.

Florets

40–90;

corollas pale yellow-green or cream, often purple-tinged, 6–8 mm.

Phyllaries

24–33 in 3–4 series, green, 3–16-striate, subequal or unequal, margins narrowly scarious (apices acute to acuminate);

outer (often bright green, 4–16-striate) lance-linear, linear-ovate, or broadly ovate, inner (pale green, 3–4-striate) linear or narrowly lanceolate (often chartaceous, scabrellous, often glandular).

Heads

in open, paniculiform arrays.

Cypselae

3–5.5 mm, scabrellous;

pappi of 18–25 smooth or barbellulate bristles.

Brickellia atractyloides

Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NV; UT; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

All three varieties of Brickellia atractyloides often intergrade and are not readily distinguished in some cases.

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

Key
1. Phyllaries: outer broadly ovate
var. atractyloides
1. Phyllaries: outer lance-ovate to lance-linear
→ 2
2. Phyllaries, outer: margins ± entire
var. arguta
2. Phyllaries, outer: margins dentate
var. odontolepis
Source FNA vol. 21, p. 494.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Eupatorieae > Brickellia
Sibling taxa
B. amplexicaulis, B. baccharidea, B. betonicifolia, B. brachyphylla, B. californica, B. chenopodina, B. cordifolia, B. coulteri, B. cylindracea, B. dentata, B. desertorum, B. eupatorioides, B. floribunda, B. frutescens, B. grandiflora, B. greenei, B. hinckleyi, B. incana, B. knappiana, B. laciniata, B. lemmonii, B. longifolia, B. microphylla, B. nevinii, B. oblongifolia, B. parvula, B. pringlei, B. rusbyi, B. simplex, B. venosa, B. veronicifolia
Subordinate taxa
B. atractyloides var. arguta, B. atractyloides var. atractyloides, B. atractyloides var. odontolepis
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 290. (1870)
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