Baccharis sarothroides A. Gray

vernacular desertbroom — species · Asteraceae

USDA: BASA2
GBIF: 3129915
Rank: species

desertbroom (Baccharis sarothroides) — Platephotograph · Michelle DyerCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Asteraceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus: Baccharis

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 11 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 11 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: None
Salinity: Medium
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 28 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 240 min.
Precipitation: 2–10 in/yr
pH range: 7–8.5
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 12 ft
Height @ 20 y: 12 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: White
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: Slight

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Winter
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Rapid
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 900,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Contracting Only
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 11 counties across 1 state.

Arizona view state ↗ 11 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/BASA2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3129915 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T05:06:36Z