Baccharis salicina explained

Baccharis salicina is a species of plant in the family Asteraceae. Common names include willow baccharis,^[1] and Great Plains false willow. It is a shrub found in North America where it grows in mildly saline areas.

Description

Baccharis salicina is a shrub producing erect, branching stems approaching 4 metres (13 ft) in maximum height. The thick leaves are oblong to oval in shape and sometimes have roughly toothed edges. They may be up to 7 centimetres (2.8 in) long. The shrub is dioecious, with male and female plants producing flower heads of different types. The head is enclosed in a layer of phyllaries and the female flowers yield fruits, each an achene with a white pappus about a centimeter long.

The earliest name for the species is Baccharis salicifolia Nutt., coined in 1840.^[2] This name, however, had previously been used for some South American material,^[3] so the North American plants needed to be renamed as Baccharis salicina.^[4]

Distribution and habitat

The plant is native to the United States (southern Great Plains region and Southwestern United States; states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah^{[5] [6]} and northern Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Durango, Sonora).^{[7] [8]}

The plant grows on open sandy flood plains, most commonly in mildly saline areas.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Willow Baccharis (Baccharis salicina) . Chihuahan Desert Plants . 9 September 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100615175229/http://museum2.utep.edu/chih/gardens/plants/baccsali.htm . 15 June 2010 .
2. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36318058#page/359/mode/1up Nuttall, Thomas 1840. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, new series 7: 337
3. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/235759#page/428/mode/1up Persoon, Christiaan Hendrik 1807. Synopsis Plantarum 2: 425
4. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/10009536#page/258/mode/1up Torrey, John & Asa Gray. 1842. flora of North America :containing abridged descriptions of all the known indigenous and naturalized plants growing north of Mexico, arranged according to the natural system 2(2): 258-259
5. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=BASA United States Department of Agriculture plants profile
6. http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Baccharis%20salicina.png Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
7. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250066188 Flora of North America, Willow-baccharis, Great Plains false willow, Baccharis salicina Torrey & A. Gray
8. http://www.tropicos.org/Name/2725675?tab=specimens Tropicos, specimen listing for Baccharis salicina Torr. & A. Gray
9. Web site: Oklahoma Biological Survey, Baccharis salicina Torr. & Gray . 2012-09-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130223231841/http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/shrub/basa.htm . 2013-02-23 . dead .