Baccharis sarothroides – Desertbroom

Baccharis sarothroides - Desertbroom, Desert Broom, Rosinbush (male flowers)

Baccharis sarothroides - Desertbroom, Desert Broom, Rosinbush (female flowers and a Great Purple Hairstreak (Atlides halesus) butterfly)

Baccharis sarothroides - Desertbroom, Desert Broom, Rosinbush (female plant)

Baccharis sarothroides - Desertbroom, Desert Broom, Rosinbush (seeds)

Baccharis sarothroides - Desertbroom, Desert Broom, Rosinbush (female plant with seeds)

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Baccharis sarothroides

Common Names: Desertbroom, Desert Broom, Rosinbush

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial, Evergreen

Growth Habit: Shrub

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, Upland, Riparian. It grows in washes, along roadways, and in other disturbed areas. It is equally likely to occur in wetlands or non-wetlands.

Flower Color: White to cream, Tan

Flowering Season: Fall, Winter

Height: Up to 10 feet (3 m) tall, but usually less

Description: The plants are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants. The flower heads are rayless. The slender female flowers are followed by abundant, white, downy seeds that cover the plants in large, cottony masses and easily become airborne and drift in the wind like snow. The leaves are green, thick, sessile, and very narrowly linear-oblanceolate. The stems are green, angular, and nearly leafless. The branches were used as brooms by Native Americans and others.

Special Characteristics

Allergenic – The pollen is possibly a severe allergen.

Butterfly Plant – The flowers attract butterflies, especially Western Pygmy-Blue (Brephidium exilis) butterflies and other autumn butterflies.

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: Baccharis L. – baccharis
Species: Baccharis sarothroides A. Gray – desertbroom

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map