Ambrosia chamissonis

Beach bur-sage, Beach Bur-Sage

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Native

Beach bur-sage is a California native perennial found in coastal bioregions including northern, central, and southern California Coast and Channel Islands on beaches and dunes at elevations below 25 meters. Flowering from May to October, this plant produces small clustered heads of yellowish flowers with staminate and pistillate flowers on the same plant. Growing as a mat-forming plant with decumbent or prostrate stems less than 4 meters long, it spreads across sandy landscapes with densely hairy, grayish-green foliage. Its leaves are oblanceolate to elliptic, 2 to 5 centimeters long, with deeply toothed or lobed edges that create a distinctive textured appearance. The fruit is a distinctive bur 5 to 10 millimeters long, covered in 10 to 20 spiraled spines that aid in seed dispersal by catching onto passing animals or clothing.

Habitat: Beaches, dunes

Bloom period: May-Oct

Elevation: < 25 m

Bioregions: NCo, CCo, SCo, ChI

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.