General: Littleleaf Brickellbush (Brickellia microphylla) is a low-growing shrub with short, toothed leaves. The stems are woolly hairy, and the leaves are notched and glandular with tiny spines at the tips of the serrations. The flowerheads are rayless, small, occur at the tips of the stems. The phyllaries are in sets of different length, and tips are somewhat spoon-shaped and recurved (stacking up like a pineapple). Ray flowers only; 8-28 ray flowers per flowerhead. Old flowerheads persist.
Littleleaf Brickellbush is an uncommon component of vegetation in moist canyons in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zone.
Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae)
There are two varieties of Littleleaf Brickellbush in Nevada:
- B. m. var. microphylla — Littleleaf Brickellbush (Pineapple Bush). 15-30 ray flowers. Smoother surfaces.
- B. m. var. scabra — Rough Brickellbush. 8–13 ray flowers. Rougher surfaces.
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