85. Broom baccharis
Reading edition
Locally called “desert-broom,” or “Mexican broom,” this species of baccharis is an erect, coarse, evergreen shrub 3 to 6 feet high, frequently encountered on hillsides and bottomlands at elevations between 1,000 and 5,500 feet from southwestern New Mexico to southern and Baja California and northern Mexico. Greening up following summer rains, the shrubs blossom from September to February. Flowers are inconspicuous, but the fruits develop as masses of spectacular cottony threads, giving the shrubs a snow-covered appearance. Among some Indian tribes the twigs are chewed to relieve toothache. In Mexico the shrub is called hierba del pasmo.
Baccharis sarothroides Sunflower Family
BROOM BACCHARIS