General plant form |
General: Mojave Rabbitbrush (Ericameria paniculata), previously called Black-banded Rabbitbrush, is an upright, usually waist-high shrub with green stems and thread-like leaves that produce dense, yellow flowerheads at the top of the shrub during fall. Mojave Rabbitbrush has a relationship with a smut fungus (Puccinia splendens) that produces conspicuous black bands around the stems, giving this species the black-banded common name. The black bands are useful in identifying this species.
Mojave Rabbitbrush is a common component of wash communities in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zone.
Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).
Other Names: Black-banded Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus paniculatus) |
Rayless sunflowers (i.e., sunflower without "petals") |
Plant Form: Upright shrub with many, green stems
Height: Usually to waist-high, occasionally head-high.
Bark: New bark is green; older bark is light gray.
Stems: Erect.
Leaves: Narrow (to 2 inches long and 1/5 inch wide), green, resinous
Flowers: Blooms in the fall. Inflorescence: many dense heads of tiny yellow flowers, sometimes covering the entire top of the shrub. Ripens to brown, fluffy flowerheads atop the plant. |
Black fungal bands show clearly on stems |
Seeds: Small, hairy achene (like a tiny sunflower seed).
Habitat: Gravelly soils in and along washes.
Elevation: about 1,000 to 5,000 feet
Distribution: California to Utah and Arizona.
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