[Illustration: Baccharis glutinosa]
Common Names: SEEPWILLOW, WATERMOTIE, WATERWALLY, WATERWILLOW, BROOM
BACCHARIS, ROSINBUSH, (_HIERBA-DEL-PASMO_)
Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Baccharis glutinosa_). Creamy.
March-December.
California desert: (_Baccharis sarathroides_). Yellow-white.
September-February.
Sunflower family. Size: Up to 7 feet tall.
Genus _Baccharis_ is composed, in the desert, of coarse shrubs with a
number of common species. The flowers themselves are not beautiful, but
the female plants with their flower heads that develop glaring-white
pappus hairs, are spectacular and quite attractive.
_B. glutinosa_ is a common shrub along watercourses, often forming dense
thickets. The straight stems are used in native houses as matting across
ceiling timbers to support the mud roof. _B. sarathroides_ and several
other species are often referred to as the Desert Brooms. They are
common along desert washes and roadsides in sandy soil, their pale
yellow, bristly flower heads, during the fall and winter months,
appearing in sharp contrast to the vivid green branchlets and dark stems
of the bushes. Among some Indians, the stems are chewed as a toothache
remedy.