Desertbroom

Baccharis sarothroides

''Baccharis sarothroides'' is a species of flowering shrub known by the common names broom baccharis, desertbroom, greasewood, rosin-bush and groundsel in English and "escoba amarga" or "romerillo" in Spanish. This is a spreading, woody shrub usually sticky with glandular secretions along the primarily leafless green stems. The small, thick leaves are a few centimeters long and are absent much of the year, giving the shrub a spindly, twiggy appearance. It flowers abundantly with tiny green blooms on separate male and female plants.
Female plant of Desert Bloom Fairy seeds are released in the wind which can carry over miles. Baccharis sarothroides,Fall,Geotagged,United States

Naming

Native to the Sonoran Desert of northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States, it is common in gravelly dry soils and disturbed areas.
Desert broom visited by a Bombyliidae "Small Bee Fly" I couldn't identify the bee fly so I am referencing the foliage Baccharis sarothroides,bee fly

Uses

The Seri refer to desert broom as cascol caaco, and make a decoction by cooking the twigs. This tea is used to treat colds, sinus headache, and general sore achey ailments. The same tea is also be used as a rub for sore muscles.

Studies done on plant extracts show that desert broom is rich in leutolin, a flavonoid that has demonstrated anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cholesterol lowering capabilities. Desert broom also has quercetin, a proven antioxidant, and apigenin a chemical which binds to the same brain receptor sites that Valium does. However many members of the Sunflower family also contain compounds that cause negative side effects, thus caution is advised until this plant is more extensively tested.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderAsterales
FamilyAsteraceae
GenusBaccharis
SpeciesB. sarothroides
Photographed in
United States of America