Baccharis vanessae
Baccharis pilularis
Encinitas baccharis, Encinitas false willow or baccharis, encinitis false willow
chaparral broom, coyote brush, dwarf chaparral false willow
erect, slender, rounded, smooth, glabrous or stipitate-glandular proximal to heads.
spreading to ascending, dark brown, shiny, striate-angular, glabrous, often ± scurfy, usually resinous and sticky.
often withering and sparse by flowering;
sessile;
blades (1-nerved) filiform to linear-oblanceolate, 10–30 × 1–3 mm (slightly fleshy), bases narrowed, margins entire (revolute), apices acute (mucronate), faces glabrous, gland-dotted.
present at flowering;
sessile or short-petiolate;
blades (1- or 3-nerved) oblanceolate to obovate, the smaller 5–40 × 2–15 mm (thick), bases cuneate, margins entire or coarsely dentate (teeth 3–9 distal to middles), faces glabrous, gland-dotted, resinous.
funnelform;
staminate 3–5 mm, pistillate 3–5 mm.
hemispheric to campanulate;
staminate 3.2–5 mm, pistillate 3–6 mm.
ca. 25;
corollas 2.5 mm.
19–43;
corollas 2.5–3.5 mm.
15–22;
corollas 4 mm.
20–34, 3–4 mm.
lanceolate (not keeled), 1–4 mm, margins ciliate, chartaceous, apices acute to acuminate (abaxial faces scurfy-glandular).
ovate to lanceolate, 1–3 mm, margins yellowish, scarious, medians yellow proximally, green distally, apices obtuse to acute or acuminate (erose, abaxial faces papillose-scurfy).
borne singly or in (pedunculate clusters) in loose paniculiform or racemiform arrays.
(100–200+) in (leafy) paniculiform arrays.
2–3 mm, 10-nerved, glabrous or ciliate along nerves;
pappi 7–10 mm.
1–2 mm, 8–10-nerved, glabrous;
pappi 6–9 mm.
= 18.
Baccharis vanessae
Baccharis pilularis
Of conservation concern.
Baccharis vanessae is highly localized in chaparral remnants in relictual Torrey Pine forests of coastal San Diego County. It is distinguished from other species of Baccharis by its filiform leaves and delicate, ciliate phyllaries that reflex at maturity.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
Baccharis pilularis can be distinguished by its dark brown stems, and serrate, obovate to oblanceolate leaves. In addition, plants from some dunes of the California coast are prostrate, a growth form unique to this genus in our region.
The common, weedy, widespread form is subsp. consanguinea, which is typically erect, with its larger leaves 15–40 mm. Subspecies pilularis is known only from exposed sandy dunes and bluffs along the central coast of California. Its growth habit is matlike, and its larger leaves are 5–15 mm. The prostrate habit of subsp. pilularis is strikingly different from the upright habit of subsp. consanguinea.
C. B. Wolf (1935) demonstrated that in at least some populations, the distinction between prostrate and erect forms has a genetic basis. Transplants from the wild of the prostrate and erect forms retained their respective growth habits when grown together in a sheltered location and the morphology of seedlings reflected the habit of the parents. Wolf’s arguments for recognizing the forms as subspecies are further supported by the existence of prostrate cultivars in the horticultural trade. On the other hand, both erect and prostrate forms grow in proximity throughout the range of subsp. pilularis. In many areas the forms intergrade completely; in others they can be easily distinguished. Two subspecies are recognized here, notwithstanding difficulties in identifying habit from pressed specimens, or by observations of populations where both growth forms coexist. Further study is needed, perhaps utilizing molecular characters and detailed observations of native populations.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Stems erect, rarely prostrate, brittle, forming erect or rounded shrubs; leaves mostly 15–40 mm; noncoastal and coastal California, Oregon | subsp. consanguinea |
1. Stems prostrate, flexible, forming mats; leaves mostly 5–15 mm; sandy, exposed habitats of coastal California | subsp. pilularis |
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