Blackbrush is a nondescript (except when flowering!) aromatic shrub that can form extensive
colonies. It is native to deserts of the southwestern North America, including parts of the
Mojave, Great Basin, and Sonoran deserts.
The common name refers to its branches, gray when dry, turning black with rain, or as the shrub ages.
Plants: Densely branched shrubs are 12-79″ (30-200 cm) in height.
Branches have spiny
tips.
Leaves: Plants are technically evergreen, but they are
drought deciduous—they
drop many of their leaves in the summer in order to reduce water loss. Leaves are simple
(smooth-edged), ⅛-½″ (5-15 mm) long, gray-green, and linear to oblanceolate.
Flowers: Each flower has four thick, fuzzy
sepals, yellow inside, and reddish or orange outside; 20-40 yellow stamens;
one pistil,
and either no petals or up to four. The overall effect is that the flowers look yellowish.
Buds are reddish brown.
Flowering is triggered by heavy rains.