About Chaetopappa ericoides (Torr.) G.L.Nesom
Chaetopappa ericoides is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family, with the common names rose heath and heath-leaved chaetopappa. This species is native to the southwestern and western Great Plains regions of the United States, as well as northern Mexico. It has been recorded growing in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, and Nuevo León.
Chaetopappa ericoides is a small perennial herb that grows 5 to 15 centimeters (2 to 6 inches) tall. Its hairy, glandular stem branches multiple times and grows from a woody caudex. The green leaves are glandular and bristly, reaching up to approximately one centimeter in length. The plant produces tiny flower heads that are 1 to 2 centimeters wide, with white or pinkish ray florets surrounding a center of yellow disc florets. Each flower head has a base of pointed greenish phyllaries with purple tips. The fruit is a hairy, round achene that has a bristly white pappus.
Among the Zuni people, an infusion made from the whole pulverized plant is rubbed onto the body to relieve pain from colds, swellings, and rheumatism. A warm infusion of the plant is also taken to speed up childbirth.
