Flowers of the Southwest Deserts

by Natt N. Dodge

Baccharis glutinosa

Common Names: SEEPWILLOW, WATERMOTIE, WATERWALLY, WATERWILLOW, BROOM BACCHARIS, ROSINBUSH, (HIERBA-DEL-PASMO) Arizona and Texas deserts: (Baccharis glutinosa). Creamy. March-December. California desert: (Baccharis sarathroides). Yellow-white. September-February. Sunflower family. Size: Up to 7 feet tall.

Genus Baccharis is composed, in the desert, of coarse shrubs with a number of common species. The flowers themselves are not beautiful, but the female plants with their flower heads that develop glaring-white pappus hairs, are spectacular and quite attractive.

B. glutinosa is a common shrub along watercourses, often forming dense thickets. The straight stems are used in native houses as matting across ceiling timbers to support the mud roof. B. sarathroides and several other species are often referred to as the Desert Brooms. They are common along desert washes and roadsides in sandy soil, their pale yellow, bristly flower heads, during the fall and winter months, appearing in sharp contrast to the vivid green branchlets and dark stems of the bushes. Among some Indians, the stems are chewed as a toothache remedy.

CREAM