What is Brittlebush?

Brittlebush is a desert shrub that is a member of the Asteraceae or Sunflower, Family and is located in the deserts of the American Southwest, Northern Mexico and South California. When adapting to desert conditions, it is resistant to drought. There are several types of Brittlebush, but the one that is primarily used in horticulture is encelia Farinosa . This species is grown for its yellow flowers and fragrant leaves in Xeriscape landscaping or gardening, which is designed to use minimal water.

This shrub is easy to cultivate if it receives some water during the winter and early spring - a rainy desert environment. High shrubs 2 to 5 ft (0.6-1.5 m) create an abundance of small yellow flowers. If they are sometimes connected during the summer, they will bloom all year round. Starting for the second year, these plants should be cut to six inches (15 cm) after flowering. Branches may die back after severe freezing or prolonged drought, but generally develop again at the end of winter orIn early spring.

Brittlebush is also recommended for planting around the pools. It can handle reflected heat from the pool and does not require much irrigation. Creates a minimum litter. The factor is also that this perennial is pollinated by animals rather than wind. So it does not create many pollen that would contribute to allergies.

The plant is particularly common in areas that are subject to fires. After these fires, shrubs often grow back from the roots and control the landscape. These native plants can remain dominant vegetation in burnt areas for several years.

Brittlebush plants look hairy because they have a large number of hair or trichomes. The number of hair may vary depending on whether the plant grows in an area that is mostly arid or wet. Hair preferences can protect against water loss, but these plants are not impressive as effective and therefore do not produce itLik carbon. In areas with more water, plants have fewer hair and perform a larger degree of photosynthesis. This difference is caused by genetics and the adaptation of the environment.

There are different varieties of Brittlebush that are better adapted to a certain local environment. For example, varieties may vary in their tolerance of dry conditions and producing various types of chemical defenses against herbivores. This species also easily hybridizes with several other types of encolia. This can complicate the effort to re -introduce the respective Encolia type during the recovery of the native habitat.

Brittlebush is thus named because the stems break easily. They also produce resin, which was burned as incense by Spanish settlers. This led to the Spanish name for the plant to be incienso . We also resin is myed healing from indigenous Americans and as chewing rubber of their children.

Insect range is specialized in using a plant for pollination or as a food source. Sometimes they can eXistant a large infestation of aphids, which in turn attract a large number of ladybugs. Plants are also frequent hosts of larvae painted lady butterfly.