Vegetation Around Las Vegas, White Bursage (Ambrosia dumosa)

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White Bursage (Ambrosia dumosa)
Shrubs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas

Typical Creosote-Bursage Flats habitat where creosote bush (dark green) and white bursage (gray-white) dominate

White Bursage (Ambrosia dumosa) is a short, rounded shrub that often looks like a low mound of white, lifeless twigs. In the spring, however, White Bursage puts on a dense covering of short, lobed, dense-hairy leaves and clusters of tiny, yellow-green flowers. The fruits are a spiny burr.

White Bursage is one of the two signature plants of the southwestern deserts, but it generally remains unnoticed beneath the taller creosote bushes with which it shares the landscape on flats and lower slopes in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zones.

Around Las Vegas, look for this species in any lower-elevation desert area.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Other names: burrobush, burroweed.

Shrub beginning to leaf out in the spring (note white appearance)

Plant Form: Low, rounded shrub with many branches emerging from the ground and radiating up and outward. The stems generally are crooked and divided.

Height: Generally less than knee-high (about 1.5 feet); maximum about 2 feet.

Leaves: 3/4 inch long; light colored (smoke colored) due to dense, short, light-colored hairs. Pinnately divided several times. Leaves present only after rain.

Flowers: greenish; no petals; about 1/8 inch wide. Flowers on a terminal spike. Blooms spring to fall.

Ripe fruit: the "burr" in bursage

Seeds: Fruits 1/4-inch long, spiny (not hooked).

Elevation: up to about 3,000 ft.

Distribution: Southern California deserts east to southwestern Utah and eastern Arizona.

Comments: This is one of the most abundant shrubs in the lower-elevation deserts.




White Bursage during summer	White Bursage in full bloom
Stems white, dense, branching, and crooked	Stems white, dense, branching, and crooked
White Stems and green leaves	White Stems and green leaves
Lobed, hairy leaves	Lobed, hairy leaves
Five lobed leaves	One rather large, lobed leaf
White Bursage covered with flowers	White Bursage covered with flowers
White Bursage covered with flowers	Flower buds
Flower buds and open flowers	Flower buds and open flowers
Fresh flowers	Fresh flowers and developing fruits
Fresh flowers and developing fruits	Old flowers and ripening fruits
Flowers and developing fruits	Flowers and developing fruits
Flowers and developing fruits	Flowers and developing fruits
Flowers and developing fruits	Flowers and developing fruits
Spent flowers and developing seeds	Spent flowers and developing seeds
Ripening seeds	Ripening seeds
White Bursage seeds on the ground	White Bursage seeds on the ground
White Bursage seeds on the ground	White Bursage seeds on the ground
Ripe fruit; these are the burrs from the Bur-sage.	Ripe fruit; these are the burrs from the Bur-sage.
During summer and winter, plants drop leaves and show white stems	During summer and winter, plants drop leaves and show white stems
During summer and winter, plants drop leaves and show white stems	During summer and winter, plants drop leaves and show white stems
Old flower stalks persist on the plants	Flowering stalk with a few seeds
Old flower stalks stand above the mass of the plant	Old flower stalks stand above the mass of the plant
Old flower stalks stand show zig-zag tips	Old flower stalks stand show zig-zag tips and characteristic spur
Dried leaves and white stems during summer	Dried leaves and white stems during summer
Dried leaves and white stems during summer	Old seed and white stems during summer
Old bird nest in White Bursage bush	Old bird nest in White Bursage bush
Old bird nest in White Bursage bush	More to come ...

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
; Last updated 240912

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