Brickellia californica

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Campanulids
Ordo: Asterales

Familia: Asteraceae
Subfamilia: Asteroideae
Tribus: Eupatorieae
Subtribus: Alomiinae
Genus: Brickellia
Species: Brickellia californica
Name

Brickellia californica (Torr. & A.Gray) A.Gray, 1849
Synonyms

Brickellia albicaulis (Rydb.) Nelson
Brickellia californica var. jepsonii B.L.Rob.
Brickellia californica var. lobulata B. L. Rob.
Brickellia californica var. reniformis (A. Gray) B. L. Rob.
Brickellia reniformis A. Gray
Brickellia tenera A. Gray
Brickellia wrightii A. Gray
Bulbostylis californica Torr. & A. Gray
Coleosanthus albicaulis Rydb.
Coleosanthus axillaris E. Greene
Coleosanthus californicus (Torr. & A. Gray) Kuntze
Coleosanthus melissifolius E. Greene
Coleosanthus reniformis (A. Gray) Rydb.
Coleosanthus tener (A. Gray) Kuntze
Coleosanthus wrightii (A. Gray) Britt.
Eupatorium axillare (Torr. & A. Gray) Mocino & Sesse ex DC.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Northern America
Southwestern U.S.A.
USA (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Wyoming)
Mexico
Mexico (Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora)

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References

A.Gray, Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Science, new series 4(1): 64. 1849

Links

International Plant Names Index. 2018. Brickellia californica. Published online. Accessed: Jan. 01 2018.
The Plant List 2013. Brickellia californica in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Jan. 01.
Tropicos.org 2018. Brickellia californica. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Jan. 01.
Hassler, M. 2018. Brickellia californica. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2018. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Jan 01. Reference page.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Brickellia californica in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Vernacular names
English: California brickellbush, Jepson's brickellbush

Brickellia californica, known by the common name California brickellbush, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family.[1][2]

Distribution

The plant is native to Northern Mexico in Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, and Coahuila states; and much of the Western United States, across California north to Oregon, northeast to Idaho and Wyoming, and east through the Southwestern states to Colorado, New Mexico, and West Texas.[3]

It is found below 2,700 metres (8,900 ft), in many habitat types including forests, woodlands, scrub, grasslands, and deserts.[2][4]

It is a common plant in many types of California habitats, including chaparral, coastal sage scrub, oak woodland, valley grassland, yellow pine forest, Sierra Nevada subalpine zone, and Mojave Desert sky islands.[1][2]
Description

Brickellia californica is a thickly branching shrub growing 5–200 cm (2–78.5 in) in height. The fuzzy, glandular leaves are roughly triangular in shape with toothed to serrated edges. The leaves are 1 - 6 centimeters long.[2]

The inflorescences at the end of stem branches contain many small leaves and bunches of narrow, cylindrical flower heads. Each head is about 13 millimeters long and wrapped in flat, wide, purplish green overlapping phyllaries. At the tip of the head are a number of long white to pink disc florets.[2] The bloom period is August through November.[1]

The fruit is a hairy cylindrical achene 3 millimeters long with a pappus of bristles.[2][5]
Medicinal plant

The Navajo and Kumeyaay (Diegueño) peoples used it as a traditional medicinal plant for fevers, coughs, and prenatal complications.[6]
References

University of Calilfornia, Calflora taxon report: Brickellia californica (Torrey & A. Gray), California brickelbush
Jepson eFlora/TJM2: Brickellia californica
Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
Turner, B. L. 1997. The Comps of Mexico: A systematic account of the family Asteraceae, vol. 1 – Eupatorieae. Phytologia Memoirs 11: i–iv, 1–272.
Flora of North America, Brickellia californica (Torrey & A. Gray); A. Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 64. 1849.
Native American Ethnobotany Database: Brickellia californica (California brickellbush)