Baccharis salicina

Baccharis salicina is a shrub producing erect, branching stems approaching 4 metres (13 ft) in maximum height. The thick leaves are oblong to oval in shape and sometimes have roughly toothed edges. They may be up to 7 centimetres (2.8 in) long. The shrub is dioecious, with male and female plants producing flower heads of different types. The head is enclosed in a layer of phyllaries and the female flowers yield fruits, each an achene with a white pappus about a centimeter long.[3]

The earliest name for the species is Baccharis salicifolia Nutt., coined in 1840.[4] This name, however, had previously been used for some South American material,[5] so the North American plants needed to be renamed as Baccharis salicina.[6]

The plant is native to the United States (southern Great Plains region and Southwestern United States; states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah[7][8] and northern Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Durango, Sonora).[3][9]

The plant grows on open sandy flood plains, most commonly in mildly saline areas.[10]