Button Brittlebush

Plants of Encelia frutescens in the flora area are var. frutescens; var. glandulosa C. Clark, with glandular, strigose leaves, is found in northeastern Baja California and is not expected here.

Subshrubs or shrubs, 50–150 cm. Stems with slender branches from trunks, glabrous, developing fissured barks. Leaves cauline; petioles 2–7 mm; blades green, elliptic or narrowly ovate, 10–25 mm, apices obtuse, faces strigose. Heads borne singly. Peduncles strigose. Involucres 6–12 mm. Phyllaries lanceolate. Ray florets 0. Disc corollas yellow, 5–6 mm. Cypselae 6–9 mm; pappi 0 or of 2 bristlelike awns. 2n = 36.

Simsia frutescens A. Gray in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 89. 1859

More info for the terms: natural, shrub

button brittlebush
brittlebush
bush encelia



TAXONOMY:
The scientific name for button brittlebush is Encelia
frutescens (Gray) Gray [16]. There are no subspecies, forms, or natural
hybrids. Recognized varieties are as follows [10,26]:

E. frutescens var. frutescens Gray
E. frutescens var. resinosa Jones


LIFE FORM:
Shrub

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS:
No special status

OTHER STATUS:
NO-ENTRY





DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Encelia frutescens
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:
Button brittlebush occurs in the Mojave and Colorado deserts of southern
California, westward to eastern San Diego County [16]. Its range
extends eastward through central and southern Nevada to southern Utah
and Arizona [11,16,26].

Button brittlebush occurs in the Mojave and Colorado deserts of southern
California, westward to eastern San Diego County [16]. Its range
extends eastward through central and southern Nevada to southern Utah
and Arizona [11,16,26].



Distribution of button brittlebush in the United States. Map courtesy of USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database.
National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC [2018, July 6] [22].

More info for the term: seed

The seeds of button brittlebush are well adapted to wind dispersal. White
brittlebush will seed into burned-over areas, and it is assumed that
button brittlebush will also. Areas of the desert important to the desert
tortoise that have been burned could be seeded with button brittlebush for
habitat improvement [28].

More info for the term: tree

Button brittlebush occurs as isolated individuals or in small groups on talus
and slickrock in blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima) and shadscale
(Atriplex confertifolia) communities, and in creosotebush (Larrea
tridentata) and Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) communities [26]. In
southwestern Utah, button brittlebush is found in xeroriparian communities and
arroyo habitats [15].

More info for the term: shrub

Shrub

More info on this topic.

Flowering occurs from February to May in California [17] and from
January to September in Arizona [11]. Button brittlebush is probably drought
deciduous, as are other species of Encelia [28].

Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

More info for the term: natural

The scientific name for button brittlebush is Encelia
frutescens (Gray) Gray [16]. There are no subspecies, forms, or natural
hybrids. Recognized varieties are as follows [10,26]:

E. frutescens var. frutescens Gray
E. frutescens var. resinosa Jones

Encelia frutescens is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names button brittlebush and bush encelia.