Brickellia californica

{{Speciesbox

| image = Brickelliacalifornica.jpg

| status = {{TNCStatus}}

| status_system = TNC

| genus = Brickellia

| species = californica

| authority = (Torr. & A.Gray) [http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Brickellia+californica University of Calilfornia, Calflora taxon report: Brickellia californica (Torrey & A. Gray), California brickelbush]

| synonyms_ref =

| synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets = true

|title=Synonymy

|Brickellia albicaulis (Rydb.) A.Nelson

|Brickellia reniformis A.Gray

|Brickellia tenera A.Gray

|Brickellia wrightii A.Gray

|Brickellia wrightii Durand & Hilg.

|Bulbostylis californica Torr. & A.Gray

|Coleosanthus albicaulis Rydb.

|Coleosanthus axillaris Greene

|Coleosanthus californicus (Torr. & A.Gray) Kuntze

|Coleosanthus melissaefolius Greene

|Coleosanthus melissifolius Greene

|Coleosanthus reniformis (A.Gray) Rydb.

|Coleosanthus tener (A.Gray) Kuntze

|Coleosanthus wrightii (A.Gray) Britton

|Eupatorium axillare (Torr. & A.Gray) Moc. & Sessé ex DC.

}}}}

Brickellia californica, known by the common name California brickellbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=1794 Jepson eFlora/TJM2: Brickellia californica]

Distribution and habitat

The plant is native to Northern Mexico in Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, and Coahuila states; and much of the Western United States, across California north to Oregon, northeast to Idaho and Wyoming, and east through the Southwestern states to Colorado, New Mexico, and West Texas.[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Brickellia%20californica.png Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map]

It is found below {{convert|2700|m|ft}}, in many habitat types including forests, woodlands, scrub, grasslands, and deserts.Turner, B. L. 1997. The Comps of Mexico: A systematic account of the family Asteraceae, vol. 1 – Eupatorieae. Phytologia Memoirs 11: i–iv, 1–272.

It is a common plant in many types of California habitats, including chaparral, coastal sage scrub, oak woodland, valley grassland, yellow pine forest, Sierra Nevada subalpine zone, and Mojave Desert sky islands.

Description

Brickellia californica is a thickly branching shrub growing {{convert|5|-|200|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} in height. The fuzzy, glandular leaves are roughly triangular in shape with toothed to serrated edges. The leaves are 1 - 6 centimeters long.

The inflorescences at the end of stem branches contain many small leaves and bunches of narrow, cylindrical flower heads. Each head is about 13 millimeters long and wrapped in flat, wide, purplish green overlapping phyllaries. At the tip of the head are a number of long white to pink disc florets. The bloom period is August through November.

The fruit is a hairy cylindrical achene 3 millimeters long with a pappus of bristles.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250066250 Flora of North America, Brickellia californica (Torrey & A. Gray)]; A. Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 64. 1849.

=Medicinal plant=

The Navajo and Kumeyaay (Diegueño) peoples used it as a traditional medicinal plant for fevers, coughs, and prenatal complications.[http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Brickellia+californica Native American Ethnobotany Database: Brickellia californica (California brickellbush)]

References

External links

[http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Brickellia+californica Calflora Database: Brickellia californica (California brickellbush)]
[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=1794 Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of Brickellia californica]
[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=BRCA3 USDA Plants Profile for Brickellia californica (California brickellbush)]
[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Brickellia+californica UC CalPhotos gallery of Brickellia californica]
{{Commons category-inline|Brickellia californica}}

californica

Category:Flora of California

Category:Flora of the Northwestern United States

Category:Flora of the Southwestern United States

Category:Flora of the South-Central United States

Category:Flora of Northeastern Mexico

Category:Flora of Northwestern Mexico

Category:Flora of the California desert regions

Category:Flora of the Chihuahuan Desert

Category:Flora of the Rocky Mountains

Category:Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)

Category:Flora of the Sonoran Deserts