Holly-leaf Brickell-Bush
Spear-leaf Brickell-bush
Brickellia atractyloides
Photographed near Vulture Peak, nw Maricopa Co., Arizona. August 2016.
SHRUB: Course woody shrub barely 0.5 meters
long spreading branches. Common examples may grow from a crevice in a vertical rock face.
ARMED. The margins of the leaves are
mucronate, but are unlikely to penetrate the skin.
FLOWERS: The pale cream to brownish and purple tinged florets are in rather small heads and usually not conspicuous. Blooming
can be in spring or summer depending on rainfall.
RANGE: In the northern portions of the Sonoran Desert this plant has a spotty distribution mostly in rocky hills and mountains.
LEAVES: The leather leaves have spine-tipped
teeth.
FRUIT: Dry single-seeded achenes are clustered in the heads and are
topped with numerous fine tan bristles.