Baccharis salicina is a species of plant in the family Asteraceae. Common names include willow baccharis, 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.Nuttall, Thomas 1840. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, new series 7: 337 This name, however, had previously been used for some South American material,Persoon, Christiaan Hendrik 1807. Synopsis Plantarum 2: 425 so the North American plants needed to be renamed as Baccharis salicina.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
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 UtahUnited States Department of Agriculture plants profileBiota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map and northern Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Durango, Sonora).Flora of North America, Willow-baccharis, Great Plains false willow, Baccharis salicina Torrey & A. GrayTropicos, specimen listing for Baccharis salicina Torr. & A. Gray
The plant grows on open sandy flood plains, most commonly in mildly saline areas.
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