Hardiness zones:
Sunset 11-13
USDA 9-10 (arid regions only)

Landscape Use: Accent, foundation, native plantings, desert flower garden

Form & Character: Winter evergreen to almost summer deciduous perennial shrub, rounded dome-like to spreading, brittle, best in desert natural gardens

Growth Habit: Vigor depends on water availability, can reach 4-5' height, most vigorous during winter, quiescence in summer, might dieback to ground during mid summer if no irrigation is provided

Foliage/texture: Tomentose, gray green or silvery to nearly white, ovate to deltoid shaped leaves to 2 1/2" long, leaf surface trichome frequency higher in summer and lower in winter; ergo, leaf appearance ranges from larger and greener in winter to smaller and whiter in summer, medium texture

Flowers & fruits: Yellow ray flowers to about 1" across in cymes, involucres (whorl of bracts around or beneath inflorescence), slightly pubescent borne in mass on terminal clusters, fruit inconspicuous

Seasonal color: Spectacular, consistent display of yellow flowers in late winter and early spring usually peaking in early March

Temperature: Tolerant

Light: Full sun

Soil: Well drained

Watering: Little to none

Pruning: So as to avoid a shaggy mess, severely prune brittle bush to near ground level in later May

Propagation: Easy by seed if a cold stratification treatment is given. In nature the seed germinate abundantly in mid-winter during years of plentiful winter rain. Can be difficult to propagate by softwood vegetative cutting, use perlite. Young seedlings and rooted cuttings require a a well drained soil to avoid damping off.

Disease and pests: Root rot if poorly drained soil.

Additional comments: Brittle bush works well in the landscape as an accent companion plant to red-bird of paradise, Baja ruellia, or autumn sage. A note of caution however is that brittle bush will quickly naturalize in Phoenix landscapes that are dominated with decomposing granite and open space. Flower stamens exude a fragrant resin that was used by Spanish padres as an incense, leaves and stems used by native Americans as a tea for arthritis.

The genus Encelia is comprised of some 15 species from southwestern North America and western South America. All the North American species are obligate outcrossers (they hybridize to produce fertile F1 offpsring). Encelia californica (shown here along the Pacific coast highway near the Topanga Canyon turnoff) is a comparable green-leaved species found along the coastal areas of southern and central California.