Key to Baccharis

View taxon page for Baccharis

(For a list of species in Baccharis, use the above link.)

Jepson Manual glossary definitions can be seen by moving your cursor over words underlined with dots.

1. Stem generally short-hairy, at least distally among heads

2. Leaves regularly minutely 

dentate 

Having margins with sharp, relatively coarse teeth pointing outward, not tipward.

with closely spaced sharp teeth, 

oblong 

Longer than wide, with nearly parallel sides; wider than linear.

or oblanceolate, (3)5–13 mm wide ..... B. plummerae subsp. plummerae

2' Leaves 

entire 

Having margins that are continuous and smooth (i.e., without teeth, lobes, etc.).

or weakly toothed, 

linear 

Elongate, with nearly parallel sides; narrower than elliptic or oblong.

to linear-(ob)lanceolate, 1–4(8) mm wide

3. Proximal leaves present at flower, blades (15)20–45(68) mm, 1–4(8) mm wide, linear to linear-oblanceolate, resin-gland-dotted adaxially; distal leaves generally well developed ..... B. malibuensis

3' Proximal leaves deciduous and 0 at flower, blades 5–17 mm, 1–2 mm wide, lance-linear, not resin-gland-dotted or sticky; distal leaves reduced, bract-like ..... B. brachyphylla

1' Stem generally glabrous throughout

4. Plant broom-like, stems dense, with numerous parallel branches; leaves sparse or 0 at flower; heads single at branch tips or ± 

sessile 

Without a petiole, peduncle, pedicel, or other kind of stalk.

on lateral branches, these in raceme- or panicle-like clusters

5. Leaves 5–15 mm wide, widely oblanceolate to obovate; heads ± sessile on lateral branches in crowded panicle-like clusters; staminate corolla 2–3.5 mm ..... B. sergiloides

5' Leaves 1–3 mm wide, thread-like to narrowly oblanceolate; heads single, stalked, or in small groups in raceme- or panicle-like clusters; staminate corolla > 3.5 mm

6. Stem striate, sharply angled; 

involucre 

Group of bracts more or less held together as a unit, subtending a flower, fruit (acorn cup), or inflorescence.

of pistillate 

head 

1. A dense, often spheric inflorescence of sessile or subsessile flowers.
2. In Asteraceae and some other groups, a head-like inflorescence is one in which sessile or subsessile inflorescence units (e.g., heads in Asteraceae, umbels enclosed by involucres in Eriogonum), instead of individual flowers, are attached in a short dense cluster without an evident axis or branches.

± 

cylindric 

Elongate, with parallel sides and, at any point, round in transverse section.

; phyllaries 

ovate 

Egg-shaped (i.e., widest below the middle) in two dimensions (i.e., in one plane), as a leaf.

to 

lanceolate 

Narrowly elongate, widest in the basal half, often tapered to an acute tip.

, tips 

acute 

Having a short-tapered, sharp tip, the sides convex or straight and converging at less than a right angle.

to rounded, glabrous; gravelly or sandy disturbed areas ..... B. sarothroides

6' Stem smooth, rounded; involucre of pistillate head ± 

funnel-shaped 

Widening from the base more or less gradually through the throat into an ascending, spreading, or recurved limb; often applied to a fused calyx or corolla.

; phyllaries lanceolate, narrowly 

tapered 

Gradually (not abruptly) narrower or smaller at base or tip.

, usually glandular-scurfy; dense chaparral ..... B. vanessae

4' Plant bushy or sparingly branched, not broom-like; leaves present at flower; heads in flat-topped or panicle-like clusters (or smaller, lateral clusters in spring-flowering plants).

7. Leaf blades obovate or oblanceolate ..... B. pilularis

8. Stems generally 

erect 

Upright; vertically oriented.

, brittle, forming erect or rounded shrub; leaves generally 15–40 mm ..... subsp. consanguinea

8' Stems 

prostrate 

Lying flat on the ground.

, flexible, forming mat; leaves generally 5–15 mm; exposed sandy beaches and sea bluffs ..... subsp. pilularis

7' Leaf blades linear, lanceolate, 

elliptic 

In the shape of a flattened circle or ellipse; wider than linear

, oblong to narrowly oblanceolate

9. Leaf blades 1–2(5) mm wide, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, margin entire to minutely dentate with closely spaced sharp teeth; faces not sticky ..... B. plummerae subsp. glabrata

9' Leaf blades 3–30 mm wide, lanceolate, lance-elliptic or oblong to narrowly oblanceolate, faces generally sticky

10. Leaf blades linear-oblong to narrowly oblanceolate, entire or distally coarsely and irregularly toothed; fruit 8–10-ribbed, pappus 8–12 mm ..... B. salicina

10' Leaf blades lanceolate or lance-elliptic, entire or finely 

serrate 

Having margins with sharp, fine to coarse teeth generally pointing tipward, not outward; margins with such teeth on such primary teeth are doubly serrate.

distally or throughout; fruit 5-ribbed, pappus 2.5–6(7) mm

11. Rhizomatous 

perennial 

Completing life cycle (germination through death) in more than two years or growing seasons, generally non-woody (at least above ground) to woody; includes perennial herbs as well as subshrubs to trees; the abbreviation 'per' only refers to perennial herb, not to the word 'perennial' alone.

 herb, forming large colonies; heads in dense, compact, terminal rounded to ± flat-topped clusters; fruit minutely hairy ..... B. glutinosa

11' Shrub, not rhizomatous, not forming colonies; heads in terminal flat-topped or pyramidal panicle-like clusters in summer–fall-flowering pls, in smaller lateral clusters in spring-flowering plants; fruit glabrous ..... B. salicifolia subsp. salicifolia

Please use this Google Form for Contact/Feedback

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) . Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/ [accessed on ]

Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on .

We encourage links to these pages, but the content may not be downloaded for reposting, repackaging, redistributing, or sale in any form, without written permission from The Jepson Herbarium.