About Baccharis salicina Torr. & A.Gray
Baccharis salicina Torr. & A.Gray is a shrub that grows erect, branching stems that reach a maximum height of around 4 metres (13 ft). Its thick leaves range from oblong to oval in shape, sometimes have roughly toothed edges, and can grow up to 7 centimetres (2.8 in) long. This shrub is dioecious, meaning male and female plants produce different types of flower heads. Each flower head is enclosed in a layer of phyllaries. After flowering, female plants produce fruits, each of which is an achene with a white pappus that is roughly one centimetre long. The earliest published name for this species was Baccharis salicifolia Nutt., coined in 1840. However, this name had already been used earlier to refer to South American plant material, so the North American plants required renaming to Baccharis salicina. This species is native to the southern Great Plains region and Southwestern United States, occurring in the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah, as well as northern Mexico, where it is found in Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Durango, and Sonora. It grows on open sandy flood plains, and occurs most commonly in mildly saline areas.
