Brickellia frutescens

Shrubby brickellbush

Family: Asteraceae · Type: shrub · Native

Shrubby brickellbush is a California native shrub found in the Sonoran Desert on granitic desert slopes and sandy terrain at elevations of 600 to 1,200 meters. Flowering from March to June and October to November, this plant produces purple flowers in small heads 9 to 11 millimeters long, often with purple-tinged phyllaries. Growing 30 to 60 centimeters tall with intricately branched stems that are short-rough-hairy and sparsely gland-dotted, it forms a compact desert shrub. Its alternate leaves are small and distinctive, measuring 3 to 12 millimeters long and 1 to 4 millimeters wide, with oblong to spoon-shaped blades that have tomentose surfaces and obscure veins. The fruit is 3.5 to 4.8 millimeters long with 26 to 30 minute bristles.

Habitat: granitic desert slopes, sand

Bloom period: Mar-Jun, Oct--Nov

Elevation: 600-1200 m

Bioregions: DSon

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