GROUNDSEL-BUSH or -TREE; PENCIL-TREE
(Baccharis halimifolia) Thistle family
Flower-heads: White or yellowish tubular florets, 1 to 5 in
peduncled clusters. Staminate and pistillate clusters on
different shrubs; the former almost round at first, the latter
conspicuous only when seeding; then their pappus is white, and
about 1/3 in. long. Stem: A smooth, branching shrub, 3 to 10 ft.
high. Leaves: Thick, lower ones ovate to wedge-shaped, coarsely
angular-toothed; upper ones smaller, few-toothed or entire.
Preferred Habitat: Salt marshes, tidewater streams, often far
from the coast.
Flowering Season: September-November
Distribution: The Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Maine to Texas.
When the little bright white, silky cockades, clustered at the
ends of the branches, appear on a female groundsel-bush in
autumn, our eyes are attracted to the shrub for the first time.
But had not small pollen carriers discovered it weeks before, the
scaly, glutinous cups would hold no charming, plumed seeds ready
to ride on autumn gales.
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