Summary ⁵

Encelia farinosa (commonly known as brittlebush or brittlebrush), is a common desert shrub of northern Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Hidalgo) and the southwestern United States (California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada).

Description ⁶

Brittlebush grows up to 30 to 150 cm (12 to 59 in) tall, with fragrant leaves 3–8 centimetres (1.2–3.1 in) long, ovate to deltoid, and silvery tomentose. The capitula are 3.0–3.5 cm in diameter, with orange-yellow ray florets and yellow or purple-brown disc florets. They are arranged in loose panicles above the leafy stems fruit 3–6 mm and no pappus is visible. During dry seasons the plant goes drought deciduous, shedding all of its foliage, relying on the water stored in its thick stems.

3-Acetyl-6-methoxybenzaldehyde is found in the leaves of E. farinosa.

Two varieties of E. farinosa are recognized by Flora of North America.

Varieties formerly included E. f. var. radians, now regarded as a separate species E. radians Brandegee.

Habitat ⁶

E. farinosa can be found in a variety of habitats from dry, gravelly slopes to open, sandy washes up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft). It requires a very sunny position in a deep very well-drained soil, and minimal winter frost.

It does well in cultivation often being used for border, erosion control, ground cover and massing. Recently the plant has spread dramatically in areas not natural to its distribution in large part because Caltrans has begun to use it in hydroseeding.

Uses ⁶

Brittlebush has a long history of uses by indigenous and pioneer peoples.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) ericjorgensen, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by ericjorgensen
2. (c) lonnyholmes, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by lonnyholmes
3. (c) Angela England, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Angela England
4. (c) montgranier, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by montgranier
5. Adapted by Jeny Davis from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encelia_farinosa
6. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encelia_farinosa

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Calflora
• CalPhotos
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Jepson eFlora
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• World Flora Online

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