Ambrosia salsola
Ambrosia salsola | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Genus: | Ambrosia |
Species: | A. salsola
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Binomial name | |
Ambrosia salsola | |
Synonyms[1][2] | |
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Ambrosia salsola,[3] commonly called cheesebush, winged ragweed, burrobush,[4] white burrobrush,[citation needed] and desert pearl,[citation needed] is a species of perennial shrub in the sunflower family native to deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.[5]
This species, notable for its foul smell, easily hybridizes with the white bur-sage (Ambrosia dumosa).[5]
Range and habitat[]
It is common on sandy desert flats, desert dry washes, and is weedy in disturbed sites in creosote bush scrub, shadscale scrub, , and Pinyon juniper woodland, ranging from Inyo County, California, to northwestern Mexico.[5]
It grows in sandy and gravelly soil, and sometimes on lava formations at elevations of 200–1,800 m (660–5,910 ft).[6][7]
It is native to the southwestern United States (Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah) and northwestern Mexico (Sonora, Baja California, Baja California Sur), where it is a common plant of the local deserts, where it thrives on sandy soil, alkaline environments, and disturbed sites.[4][8]
Growth pattern[]
It is typically 2' to 3' in height.[5] It drops about half of its leaves and some of its twigs in hot, dry summer conditions (drought deciduous).[5]
Ambrosia salsola is a shrub sometimes attaining a height of 150 cm (59 in).[9][10][11][12]
This is a perennial shrub which forms a sprawling bush up to eight feet high.[4]
Leaves and stems[]
It has thin stems and narrow, needlelike leaves. Leaves are narrow and needlelike (linear),[5] thread-like (filiform),[9][10][11] sometimes up to 65 mm (2.6 in) long but a mere 1.5 mm (0.059 in) across.[9][10][11]
The foliage and stem tips have a foul, pungent, cheese-like scent when crushed, a trait which gives the plant the common name "cheesebush".[5]
Inflorescence, fruits, seeds[]
It flowers from March to June.[5] Numerous small, cuplike male flowers grow in -like clusters above the female heads growing in the leaf axils.[5]
All female (Pistillate) flower heads contain only one flower,[4] while all male (staminate) heads may contain 5–15 flowers.[9][10][11]
It is covered in plentiful white or yellow flowers and then pearly, winged fruits in white, yellow, or pink.[4]
References[]
- ^ Tropicos
- ^ The Plant List
- ^ Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd Ed. 2013, p. 314
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Flora of North America Vol. 21 Page 12, Burrobush, Ambrosia salsola (Torrey & A. Gray) Strother & B. G. Baldwin, Madroño. 49: 143. 2002.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd Ed. 2013, p. 263
- ^ Flora of North America v 21 p 12.
- ^ CONABIO. 2009. Catálogo taxonómico de especies de México. 1. In Capital Nat. México. CONABIO, Mexico City.
- ^ Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution map
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Strother, John Lance & Baldwin, Bruce G. Madroño 49(3): 143. 2002.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Torrey, John, & Asa Gray. 1849. Plantae Fendlerianae Novi-Mexicanae, an account of a collection of plants made chiefly in the vicinity of Santa Fé, New Mexico. Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Science, new series 4(1):1-116.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Forrest Shreve, & Ira Loren Wiggins. 1964. Vegetation and Flora of the Sonoran Desert. Stanford University Press.
- ^ Hickman, J. C. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California 1–1400. University of California Press, Berkeley.
External links[]
- Ambrosia (plant)
- North American desert flora
- Flora of the Southwestern United States
- Flora of Northwestern Mexico
- Flora of the California desert regions
- Flora of the Great Basin
- Flora of the Sonoran Deserts
- Natural history of the Colorado Desert
- Natural history of the Mojave Desert
- Plants described in 1849
- Taxa named by Asa Gray
- Taxa named by John Torrey