Desert Brickellbush

Shrubs, 80–200 cm. Stems intricately branched, densely puberulent, often gland-dotted. Leaves opposite or alternate; petioles 1–2.5 mm; blades 3-nerved from bases, ovate, 3–13 × 4–14 mm, bases obtuse to truncate, margins crenate-serrate, apices obtuse, faces gland-dotted and tomentulose to densely puberulent. Heads in paniculiform arrays. Peduncles 0–3 mm, gland-dotted. Involucres cylindric, 8–10 mm. Phyllaries 20–24 in 4–7 series, greenish or brownish, 3–4-striate, unequal, margins scarious (apices acute to apiculate); outer broadly ovate (granular-puberulent), inner lanceolate to lance-linear (glabrous or tomentulose, often gland-dotted). Florets 8–12; corollas white, 4.5–5 mm. Cypselae 2–3 mm, scabrous; pappi of 12–15 white, smooth or barbellulate bristles.

Brickellia desertorum has a bioregional distribution that includes the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts as well as the desert mountains of southern California, Nevada and Arizona. Chief habitats include rocky places places and desert scrub at elevations ranging from 200 to 1400 meters.

Known by the common name Desert brickelbush, this shrub can realize a height of 80 to 150 centimeters. Stems are intricately branched, and display a puberulent to short-tomentose character. The short-petioled leaves are ovate and more or less serrate, with a minutely tomentose covering. Inflorescences exhibit heads of eight to ten millimeters across, arranged as small clusters on short lateral branchlets.

Brickellia desertorum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names desert brickellbush and desert brickellia. It is native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and the southwestern United States (the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of California, Nevada, and Arizona).

Brickellia desertorum is a densely branching shrub with hairy stems growing to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) tall. The small, toothed, oval-shaped leaves are up to 1.2 centimeters long. The inflorescences at the end of stem branches contain clusters of flower heads, each about a centimeter long and lined with greenish, purplish, or yellowish phyllaries. At the tip of the head are 8 to 12 tubular disc florets.

The fruit is a hairy cylindrical achene 2 or 3 millimeters long with a pappus of bristles.