Plant Description
Broom-like shrub, up to 10 feet tall, freely branched.
Plants freely branched, broom-like; leaves sparse or absent at flowering; flower heads unisexual, borne singly on branch tips in crowded branched clusters; known by its broom-like growth form and large oval leaves which wither before flowering.
Habitat
Found in gravelly or sandy streambeds, dry washes, and grasslands.
Leaves
Smooth leaves are 1 to 1-1/4 inches long with tapered bases. The margins are irregularly toothed.
Flowers
Flowers are borne along ends of stems of lateral branches in crowded, short-branched clusters. Male and female on separate plants. Male flowers are pale yellow, 24 to 33 per flower head, female flowers are white, 15 to 30 per flower head.
Fruit
Fruit is cylindric, less than 1/2 inch long, with 5 to 10 ribs.