Pinebush

Ericameria pinifolia ranges from Ventura County to northern Baja California. It blooms primarily in late summer and fall; it sometimes produces scattered, larger flowering heads in spring.

Plants 50–300 cm. Stems erect to ascending, green when young, fastigiately branched, glabrous, resinous. Leaves ascending to spreading; blades linear to narrowly oblanceolate (terete or adaxially sulcate), 12–35 × 0.5–1.5 mm, midnerves obscure, apices acute, often mucronate, faces glabrous or moderately hairy, gland-dotted (in circular, deep pits), resinous; axillary fascicles of 4–10 leaves, shorter than subtending leaves. Heads in racemiform to thyrsiform-paniculiform arrays (to 30 × 3–12 cm). Peduncles 3–30 mm (leafy). Involucres subcampanulate, 5–8 × 3.5–5.5 mm. Phyllaries 20–26 in 4–6 series, tan, ovate to lanceolate or oblong, 3–7 × 1–1.8 mm, unequal, mostly chartaceous, outermost ± herbaceous-appendaged, midnerves thickened, darker resin ducts, slightly expanded apically, (margins membranous, fimbriate, especially distally) apices erect, acuminate to cuspidate, inner and mid acute to acuminate, abaxial faces usually glabrous, resinous . Ray florets 3–10; laminae 5.5–7 × 1.5–2 mm. Disc florets 11–25; corollas 5–8 mm. Cypselae tan to brown, subobovoid, 3.5–5 mm, glabrous or moderately hairy, more densely distally; pappi off-white to brown, 6–7.5 mm. 2n = 18.

Haplopappus pinifolius A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 636. 1873 (as Aplopappus)

Ericameria pinifolia is a species of flowering shrubs in the family Asteraceae known by the common name pinebush. This plant is native to southern California and northern Baja California.

Ericameria pinifolia is found in scrub and chaparral from the inland Peninsular and western Transverse Ranges foothills to the Colorado Desert. It is a green, hairless shrub sometimes as much as 300 cm (10 feet) tall. It is covered in clustered needle-like leaves each 1-4 centimeters (0.4-1.6 inches) long which at first glance look like very young pine needles. The leaves are fleshier than true needles and the plant is not closely related to the pines.

Atop each of the many erect branches is an inflorescence of small whitish flower heads. The plant blooms twice per year, producing single-head inflorescences in the spring and inflorescences with many smaller heads in the fall. Each head contains 3–10 ray florets and 11–25 disc florets. The fruit is an achene with a bright white, red, or tan pappus.