Bebbia juncea – Sweetbush

Bebbia juncea - Sweetbush, Chuckwalla's Delight

Bebbia juncea - Sweetbush, Chuckwalla's Delight

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Bebbia juncea

Common Names: Sweetbush, Chuckwalla's Delight

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial, Drought-deciduous

Growth Habit: Shrub, Subshrub

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert. It usually grows on rocky slopes and in desert canyons.

Flower Color: Yellow disks, no rays

Flowering Season: Spring, Summer (with the rains)

Height: Up to 4 feet (1.22 m) tall

Description: The flower heads are rayless and 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) across. When present, the sparse leaves are green, linear, and often lobed. The plants are in the form of a rounded bush and are very densely branched with numerous slender, green stems.

Special Characteristics

Butterfly Plant – The flowers attract butterflies and other insects.

Fragrant – The flowers have a sweet scent.

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: Bebbia (Benth.) Greene – sweetbush
Species: Bebbia juncea (Benth.) Greene – sweetbush

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map