Plant Name
Scientific Name: Ambrosia cordifolia
Synonym: Franseria cordifolia
Common Names: Tucson Bur Ragweed, Tucson Burr-Ragweed, Sonoran Bursage
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Shrub, Subshrub
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert, Upland. It is usually found in the mountain foothills and in sandy washes.
Flower Color: Yellowish tan, Yellowish green
Flowering Season: Spring
Height: To 2 feet (61 cm) tall or more
Description: The staminate (male) flower heads are clustered at the tips of long flower spikes, and the pistillate (female) flower heads are clustered below them. The flowers are wind-pollinated and are followed by fuzzy, spiny burs. The leaves are petiolate, mostly alternate, heart-shaped, coarsely toothed and lobed, silver-veined and light green in color above, and densely covered in silvery white hair below. The stems are upright, hairy, and silvery white in color.
Special Characteristics
Allergenic – The male flowers have highly allergenic pollen.
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: Ambrosia L. – ragweed
Species: Ambrosia cordifolia (A. Gray) Payne – Tucson bur ragweed
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