Ericameria laricifolia – Turpentine Bush

Ericameria laricifolia - Turpentine Bush, Turpentine Brush

Ericameria laricifolia - Turpentine Bush, Turpentine Brush

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Ericameria laricifolia

Synonym: Haplopappus laricifolius

Common Names: Turpentine Bush, Turpentine Brush

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Shrub, Subshrub

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, Upland

Flower Color: Brilliant yellow disks and rays

Flowering Season: Fall

Height: To 3 feet (91 cm) tall

Description: The flowers are in dense terminal clusters. The individual flower heads are 3/8 inch (10 mm) wide and have variable numbers of disk and ray flowers. The leaves densely line the branches and are dark green, resinous, narrowly linear, and 3/4 inch (1.9 cm) long.

Turpentine Bush is a low, rather inconspicuous, dark green shrub for much of the year, but when blooming, it becomes a brilliant blaze of yellow that's impossible to miss.

Special Characteristics

Butterfly Plant – The flowers attract numerous late season butterflies. It's rare to find a Turpentine Bush in full bloom without a butterfly or some other nectar-loving insect on it.

Foul-smelling – The crushed leaves smell strongly like turpentine.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae – Aster family
Genus: Ericameria Nutt. – goldenbush
Species: Ericameria laricifolia (A. Gray) Shinners – turpentine bush

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map