Willow baccharis

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Willow baccharis leaves

Willow baccharis

Willow baccharis

Willow baccharis

Willow baccharis leaves

Willow baccharis pistillate inflorescence

Morphology

Stem

Branches numerous, ascending, arising from single base, ridged, angled, glabrous.

Leaves

Alternate, simple, mostly sessile, oblong-lanceolate, 1.25 to 2.5 inches long, 1/5 to 3/5 inch wide, broader toward tips, thick, stiff, pale grayish green; margins with 2-4 coarse teeth, forward-projecting, widely spaced; tips blunt; larger leaves conspicuously 3-nerved.

Inflorescence

Pyramid-like clusters, terminal at ends of branches, heads 1-7.

Flower

Male and female flowers on separate plants; pistillate heads bell-shaped, green, hairy; bracts in several series, lanceolate to linear, spreading at maturity; margins rough; tips blunt or pointed, reddish brown; ray florets absent; disk florets 25-30, corollas slender, almost hidden by long, white, hair-like bristles; staminate heads hemispheric, greenish; bracts similar; ray florets absent; disk florets with funnel-shaped corollas, inconspicuous, white to yellowish, anthers protruding, short bristles barely rise above involucral bracts.

Fruit

Achenes, tiny, glabrous, 8-10 ribbed, tipped with numerous white, hair-like bristles in 2 series, enclosing small seed.

Ecology

Habitat

Open sandy flood plains, edges of ponds, and lakeshores.

Distribution

Principally southwest 1/4 of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

Redwing blackbirds often build nests in willow baccharis.

Additional Notes