Baccharis salicifolia (Ruiz & Pav.) Pers.

vernacular mule-fat — species · Asteraceae

USDA: BASA4
GBIF: 3129643
Rank: species

mule-fat (Baccharis salicifolia) — Platephotograph · Lauren GlevanikCC BY-NC 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

· 12 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 12 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: Medium
Salinity: High
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -3 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 160 min.
Precipitation: 10–18 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: Rapid
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 10 ft
Height @ 20 y: 10 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Yellow-Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: White
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Mid Spring
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 5,000,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
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 12 counties across 1 state.

Arizona view state ↗ 12 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/BASA4 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/3129643 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

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