Brickellia atractyloides var. odontolepis

California spear leaved brickellia

Family: Asteraceae · Type: shrub · Native

California spear leaved brickellia is a native shrub found in southern Desert Mountains and southern Desert Sonoran regions on mountain slopes and washes at elevations of 100 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces cream flowers often tinged with purple in dense clusters. Growing with erect stems up to one meter tall, it develops a shrubby, multi-branched structure. Its leaves are ovate, 10 to 20 millimeters long and 5 to 15 millimeters wide, with serrated edges and a strigose surface that is often glandular. The plant's distinctive lance-ovate phyllaries and delicate cream-and-purple flowers make it a notable component of its desert mountain habitats.

Habitat: mountain slopes, washes

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 100-1500 m

Bioregions: s DMoj, DSon

California counties: San Diego, San Bernardino, Inyo, Imperial

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