Encelia farinosa A. Gray ex Torr.

vernacular brittlebush — species · Asteraceae

USDA: ENFA
GBIF: 3118746
Rank: species

brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) — Platephotograph · lonnyholmesCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

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

§2a

Native status, by region

HI Hawaii Introduced
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 10 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 10 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: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: High

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 27 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 365 min.
Precipitation: 5–10 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: Single Stem
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 5 ft
Height @ 20 y: 1 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Moderate
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Black
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Winter
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 35,000
Propagation: seed, 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 10 counties across 1 state.

Arizona view state ↗ 10 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/ENFA ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/3118746 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T06:33:17Z