Shrubs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas
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General: Woolly Fruit Bur Ragweed (Ambrosia eriocentra) is a medium-sized, upright composite shrub with triangular, deeply notched leaves. Flowers are held on stem tips above the leaves. Staminate flowerheads occur higher on the stem than pistillate flowerheads. Staminate flowerheads hold many, yellow flowers, while pistillate flowerheads have only one flower. The fruit is a woolly bur with spines. Woolly Fruit Bur Ragweed is an uncommon component of vegetation communities on well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils in washes and on upper bajadas and moderate slopes into the lower mountains in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zones. This species is locally abundant in the wash below the Grapevine Canyon petroglyphs, but it is uncommon at Red Rocks and other places. Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae). Other Names: Woolly bur-sage. |
 Leaves deeply notched |
Plant Form: Upright, evergreen shrub. Height: Usually about 3 feet, to 6 feet. Bark: Grayish. Stems: Leaves: Petioles with wings. Blades to 3.5 inches, triangular, long and narrow; deeply notched or pinnately lobed; glandular. Flowers: Blooms in late spring. Inflorescence: spike with staminate heads above pistillate heads. Staminate flowers: many per head, yellow. Pistillate heads with 1 flower. |
 Ripening fruits covered in woolly hairs |
Seeds: Fruit: bur to about 1/3 inch; spines; dense, long hairs. Seed: Tiny achene. Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on upper bajadas and moderate slopes in the lower mountains. Elevation: About 2,500 to 5,500 feet. Distribution: California to southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona. Comments: |
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 Leaf blades triangular and deeply notched |
 Leaves alternate |
 Leaf (dorsal surface) |
 Leaf (ventral surface) |
 Leaf (dorsal surface) |
 Leaf (ventral surface) |
 Woolly Fruit Burr Ragweed leaf (dorsal surface) |
 Woolly Fruit Burr Ragweed leaf with edges rolled-under (ventral surface) |
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 Woolly Fruit Burr Ragweed covered in ripening seeds |
 Woolly Fruit Burr Ragweed covered in ripening seeds |
 Woolly Fruit Burr Ragweed stem with ripening seeds |
 Woolly Fruit Burr Ragweed with ripening seeds |
 Ripening seeds (note that staminate flowerheads are gone) |
 Woolly Fruit Burr Ragweed with ripening seeds |
 Ripening seeds (note that staminate flowerheads are gone) |
 Woolly Fruit Burr Ragweed with ripening seeds |
Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
; Last updated 240912
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