Xeriscape Landscaping Plants For The Arizona Desert Environment
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Shrubs

Burroweed, Ambrosia dumosa

Burroweed, Ambrosia dumosa

Burroweed, Ambrosia dumosa	Burroweed, Ambrosia dumosa

Burroweed Ambrosia dumosa, Aster Family ( Asteraceae ) Formerly called the Compositae or composite family, Burroweed. Also called: Burro - Weed, White Bursage. While this plant is recommended by the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association, WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT USE IT!! Ambrosia are considered by many to be noxious weeds and are listed among some of the leading plants that cause allergies. Their burs have a habit of getting caught into clothing. With that being said, ranchers do like the plants since the flowers are edible by cattle and sheep. Ambrosia dumosa is a highly branched, drought-deciduous, perennial shrub 8 inches to 40 inches in height and width. Its younger stems are covered with soft gray - white hairs. It has tiny, slightly obvate leaves with soft gray-white hairs, that are 1 to 3 times pinnately compound, or deeply lobed, and clustered on short branches. Its inflorescence is yellow with tiny staminate and pistallate flower heads on a single plant (monoecious). Ambrosia dumosa has hairy, spiney, spherical bur-like fruits ranging in color from golden to purple to brown. Ambrosia dumosa, the burro-weed or white bursage, is a common constituent of the creosote-bush scrub community throughout the Mojave desert of California, Nevada, and Utah and the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and northwestern Mexico. Wind blown pollen from Ambrosia dumosa is said to be highly allergenic. Height: Up To About 40 inches tall. Same spread. Flowers: On an inflorescence, of male and female heads (plant monoecious). Yellow, the staminate heads have many flowers and are 3 to 5 mm in diameter with a 5 to 8 lobed involucre. The pistillate heads are 2 flowered and lack a corolla. Blooming Time: Mid March to June and September to November. Fruit: Spherical bur-like fruits, colored from gold, to purple, to brown. Covered with microscopic hairs, the fruit has 12 to 35 flat and straight spines which are 1/4 to 1/3 inches in length and scattered over the surface. Leaves: Dull green 1 - 3 times pinnate leaves mostly clustered, 1/8 to 3/8 inch long, with 1-3 short obtuse lobes, generally clustered on short branches. Found: Mojave desert of California, Nevada, and Utah and the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and northwestern Mexico. Elevation: 0 - 3,000 Feet. Habitat: Creosote Bush Scrub, Joshua Tree Woodlands. Miscellaneous: WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOT USE IT!!.