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American tarwort

Flourensia cernua

Also called Varnishbush, Tarbush

American tarwort
Photo: Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0
Family
Asteraceae (Daisy family)
Grows as
Shrub
Safety
Toxic
Native range
Arizona to Texas and Mexico

About

Flourensia cernua is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the English common names American tarwort and tarbush and the Spanish common names hojasé, hojasén, and hoja ancha. It is native to the Chihuahuan Desert of North America, where it occurs in the US states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas. Most of the species in the genus are found in Latin America; this and F. pringlei are the only two species whose ranges extend into the United States.

Flourensia cernua is a shrub growing from a network of roots that may extend four meters (over 13 feet) horizontally. Most are shallow but a few extend up to five meters (over 16 feet) deep into the soil. It usually grows to a maximum height of about one meter (40 inches), but can be as tall as two meters (7 feet).

Other Flourensia plants

Pringle's tarwort · Tarwort · Helianthus navarri

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Flourensia cernua by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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