Tetradymia argyraea

Striped horsebrush, Striped Horsebrush

Family: Asteraceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Striped horsebrush is a native shrub found in the southeastern Desert Mountains in blackbush or sagebrush scrub and desert woodland at elevations of 1,200 to 2,230 meters. Flowering from July to October, this plant produces pale yellow flowers in small clusters of 2 to 5 heads about 7 millimeters wide. Growing as a spiny shrub up to 2 meters tall, it develops distinctive stems with alternating glabrous and spiny sections. Its leaves are linear and canescent, with main leaves 1 to 2 centimeters long forming straight or slightly upturned spines, and clustered leaves 3 to 8 millimeters long that are thread-like to club-shaped. The fruit is 2.5 to 3.5 millimeters long with a fine, approximately 8-millimeter pappus of delicate bristles.

Habitat: Blackbush or sagebrush scrub, desert woodland

Bloom period: (May)Jul-Oct

Elevation: 1200-2230 m

Bioregions: se DMtns.

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