Home
Advanced Search Map Locator
View Settings
Nurseries Carrying this Plant Add Current Plant To List Edit Current Plant
Show all Photos

About Calscape Nurseries
California Garden Planner Bay Area Garden Planner (NEW) Planting Guide
Butterflies My Plant Lists
Contact Calscape
Tap map to see plants native to location
Order by Popularity Order by Common Name Order by Scientific Name Order by # of Butterflies Hosted
Show nursery cultivars Hide nursery cultivars
Show plants not in nurseries Hide plants not in nurseries
Grid view Text view
Loading....
Blackbrush
Coleogyne ramosissima
  
About Blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima) 0 Nurseries Carry This Plant Coleogyne is a monotypic genus in the rose family containing the single species Coleogyne ramosissima, which is known by the common name blackbrush. This thorny, aromatic shrub is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States. It is a thickly branched thicket which may spread across the ground in clumps or grow erect to approach two meters in height. It is drought-deciduous, such that its branches are covered in clumps of fuzzy thick leaves until the hottest, driest parts of the desert year when it drops some of its foliage and becomes dormant for the season. This plant forms vast monotypic stands across the desert floor and on scrubby slopes. Flowering is triggered by a heavy spring rain in this desert-adapted species. The leathery flowers grow at the ends of small stems. They are encased in thick, fuzzy sepals which are yellow inside and reddish or orange on the outer surface. There are no petals, but the sepals remain after the flower opens, surrounding the patch of whiskery stamens and the central pistil. The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long. The plant reproduces from seed, but very rarely. The seeds do not disperse well and seedlings do not survive in large numbers. A narrow range of temperature and moisture is required for the reproduction of this species, so it is sporadic, but the plants are hardy and long-lived.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub

Size
Size
5 - 7 ft tall

Form
Form
Upright

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Slow

Dormancy
Dormancy
Summer Deciduous

Flower Color
Flower Color
Yellow, Orange, Red

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 2 likely * ) SHOW ALL
*
Dasyfidonia macdunnoughi Image
Dasyfidonia macdunnoughiDasyfidonia macdunnoughi
*
Spaelotis unicava Image
Spaelotis unicavaSpaelotis unicava

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun, Part Shade, Full Shade

Soil Description
Soil Description
Prefers sandy or loamy soils. Does not grow well in clay soils.

Common uses
Common uses
Hedges

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Dry open slopes

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 3.4" - 18.5", Summer Precipitation: 0.35" - 3.19", Coldest Month: 33.8" - 59.1", Hottest Month: 61.4" - 87.4", Humidity: 2.67" - 43.13", Elevation: 705" - 7763"


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


Sign in to your Calscape Account X




Once signed in, you'll be able to access any previously saved plant lists or create new ones.

Email Address
Password

Sign In