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Baccharis pteronioides - yerba de pasmo

Scientific Family
Asteraceae
Synonyms
Baccharis ramulosa
Other common names
Yerba-de-Pasmo
Plant type
Shrubs
Riparian
No

Plant Description

Origin
Native
Diffuse and evenly branched shrubs with thick woody crowns. Stems erect, round, brittle, rough, glandular and hairy.
Shrubs with gland-dotted leaves, disc flowers only , achenes topped by bristles. Distinguished by rough gray bark; clumps of sticky-glandular, toothed leaves at the nodes; young branches which are green, sticky. Flower heads on ends of short leafy stems.
Height
3 feet
Width
3 feet

Habitat

Habitat description
Found on dry roadsides, in grasslands and in open oak woodlands.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Disturbed Areas
Low elevation
3500
High elevation
6000

Leaves

Leaf color
Grayish-green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Toothed
Leaf attachment
Alternate
Leaf hairs
None
Spines
No
Leaf Drop
Evergreen
Alternate and sessile, many leaves wither before flowers appear; blades narrow with narrower bases, texture is leathery to fleshy, surfaces smooth and resinous, margins sharply serrated with 1 to 5 pairs of teeth.

Flowers

Flower color
Whitish, yellow
Flower shape
Daisy or dandelion-like
Tubular
No
First bloom month
April
Last bloom month
September
Flower heads unisexual, 15 to 20 disc flowers, arranged along stems on short branches. Bracts below flower heads are bell-shaped, ovate to lanceolate. Flowers are green in the middle, with rough margins and whitish to yellow disc flowers.
Flower clusters
Elongated

Fruit

Fruit color
Brown
Fruit type
Achene
Achenes are 8 to 10 nerved, minutely hairy and glandular, topped by bristles, lustrous, and abundant.

Bark/Branches

Bark color
Gray, grayish-green
Bark texture
Rough
Rough gray bark that is evenly branched from thick woody crowns; stems erect.