Names and Taxonomy
- Common Names: Burrobush, burro-weed or white bursage, white Bur Sage
- Synonyms: Franseria albicaulis, Franseria dumosa, Gaertnera dumosa, Gaertneria dumosa
- Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower)
- Genus Information:
Ambrosia dumosa
White Bursage
It is a form of ragweed, is a highly branched shrub 20 to 90 cm in height. The younger stems are covered with soft gray-white hairs. Approximately obovate leaves are 1 to 3 times pinnately compound or deeply lobed and generally clustered on short branches. The leaves are 0.5 to 4 cm long and also covered in soft gray-white hairs. Its inflorescence is yellow with staminate and pistillate headson a single plant (monoecious). Staminate heads have many flowers and are 3 to 5 mm in diameter with a 5 to 8 lobed involucre. Pistillate heads are 2 flowered and lack corollas. Ambrosia dumosa has spherical bur-like fruits ranging in color from golden to purple to brown. Along with microscopic hairs, the fruit has 12 to 35 flat and straight spines which are 5 to 9 mm in length and scattered over the surface.
