About Brickellia grandiflora (Hook.) Nutt.
Brickellia grandiflora (Hook.) Nutt. is an upright perennial herb with a few-branched stem that reaches up to 70 centimeters, or 28 inches, in height. Its leaves are hairy, glandular, and up to 12 centimeters, or 4 and 3/4 inches, long. Leaves can be lance-shaped, triangular, or heart-shaped. Inflorescences at the tip of the slender stem hold clusters of nodding flower heads. Each flower head is just over 1 centimeter long, lined with greenish phyllaries that have curling tips. The bell-shaped flower head contains a spreading array of 20 to 40 disc florets. The fruit is a hairy cylindrical achene, about 4 millimeters, or 1/8 of an inch, long, with a pappus of bristles. The bloom period of this species runs from July to October. The rust fungus Puccinia subdecora grows on Brickellia grandiflora. This plant is widespread across much of western North America. It occurs in western Canada, specifically in Alberta and British Columbia; in northern Mexico, including Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas; and in the western and midwestern United States. In the U.S., it is found primarily in the Rocky Mountains and regions west through California, Oregon, and Washington, with additional populations in New Mexico, Texas, the central Great Plains (Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma), and the Ozarks (Missouri, Arkansas). It grows on forest banks and cliffs at relatively high elevations.
