Scientific Name: Ambrosia deltoidea

Common Name:Bursage

Family: Asteraceae, Sunflower Family

Duration: Perennial

Size:About 2 feet or larger.

Growth Form: Shrub or subshrub; erect, gangly,  somewhat rounded bush with slender brittle branches, new branches with tiny white hairs tomentose, reddish-brown, older branches grayish, dried or dead   throughout.

Leaves: Greenish-gray above, grayish-white below;  alternate, petiolate shape triangular, new leaves with very small whitish hairs tomentose about an inch long, margins toothed, drops leaves in extreme heat (drought-deciduous).

Flower Color: Greenish-yellow; dull, inconspicuous, flowers borne on a spike-type stalk (inflorescence) both male (staminate) and female (pistillate) flowers (monecious); (inflorescence), male flowers on top with the female flowers below, fruit is a rounded (globose) spiny bur, seed an achene.

Flowering Season: December to April.

Comments: Triangle leaf Bursage is often used as a nurse plant by the Saguaro cactus. It is reported to have little or no value to livestock and normally lives about 50 years.