Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Hymenoclea salsola
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| Burrobrush. Wikimedia Commons image by Stan Shebs. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Hymenoclea salsola
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION:
Tesky, Julie L. 1993. Hymenoclea salsola. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/hymsal/all.html [].
Revisions:
On 12 July 2018, the common name of this species was changed in FEIS
from: white burrobrush
to: burrobrush. Images were also added.
ABBREVIATION:
HYMSAL
SYNONYMS:
Hymenoclea salsola var. patula (Nelsen) Peterson & Payne
NRCS PLANT CODE:
HYSA
COMMON NAMES:
burrobrush
cheesebush
desert pearl
pearlbush
TAXONOMY:
The scientific name of burrobrush is Hymenoclea salsola Tor. & Gray. There are three recognized
varieties [2,21,22,27]:
Hymenoclea salsola Torr. & A. Gray var. fasciculata (A. Nelson) K.M. Peterson & Payne
Hymenoclea pentalepis (Rydb.) L. Benson.
Hymenoclea salsola var. salsola
LIFE FORM:
Shrub
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS:
No special status
OTHER STATUS:
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Hymenoclea salsola
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:
Burrobrush is found in the Sonoran, Mojave, and Colorado deserts
of Baja California, southern California, southern Nevada, extreme
southwest Utah, Arizona, and northwest Mexico [18,22,27,46]. A small,
relict population occurs in the southern end of the Central Valley of
California [12].
 |
| Distribution of burrobrush. Map courtesy of USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database.
National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC [2018, July 12] [32]. |
ECOSYSTEMS:
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
STATES:
AZ CA NV UT MEXICO
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS:
7 Lower Basin and Range
12 Colorado Plateau
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K040 Saltbush - greasewood
K041 Creosotebush
K042 Creosotebush - bursage
K043 Paloverde - cactus shrub
K044 Creosotebush - tarbush
SAF COVER TYPES:
238 Western juniper
239 Pinyon - juniper
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES:
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:
Burrobrush is commonly found in creosotebush (Larrea tridentata),
shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia), and saltbush (Atriplex spp.) scrub,
Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) woodlands, and pinyon-juniper woodlands
[27,36,30]. Johnson [15] describes a burrobrush community type in
the desert washes of the Mojave Desert characterized by white
burrobrush, desert saltbush (Atriplex polycarpa), desert rabbitbrush
(Chrysothamnus paniculatus), and catclaw acacia (Acacia greggii). Hanley
and Brady [14] describe a paloverde (Cercidium spp.)-burrobrush
community type in Sonoran Desert washes.
In addition to the above mentioned species, burrobrush is commonly
associated with smoke tree (Dalea spinosa), white bursage (Ambrosia
dumosa), brittle bush (Encelia farinosa), jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis),
sweetbush (Bebbia juncea), desert agave (Agave deserti), ocotillo
(Fouquieria splendens), range ratany (Kramerica parvifolia), teddybear
cholla (Opuntia bigelovii), desert willow (Chilopsis linearis), and
rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) [42,44,45].
A publication listing burrobrush as a codominant species in desert
wash communities is listed below:
Vegetation and plant communities of southern California deserts-- a
functional view [15].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Hymenoclea salsola
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:
NO-ENTRY
PALATABILITY:
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE:
Some arroyo habitats where burrobrush occurs provide den sites for
the desert tortoise [43].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES:
The Seri Indians of Sonora, Mexico, use burrobrush twigs and stems
in several remedies. The twigs or leaves are mixed with all-thorn
(Koeberlinia spinosa) twigs, boiled, and the tea taken to treat skin
rashes. Seri also drank the tea to relieve pain in the lungs and
trachea, and to reduce swelling. Additionally, they use white
burrobrush as a remedy for rheumatism [10].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
Burrobrush causes hay fever [3,22].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Hymenoclea salsola
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Burrobrush is a native, short-lived, drought-deciduous, perennial
shrub 3 to 8 feet (1-2.5 m) tall and two- or three-fold as wide
[2,4,22,27]. It is rounded and often straggly with slender, puberulent
branches and narrow, often threadlike or needlelike leaves to 0.7 to 3
inches (2-7.5 cm) long [7,18,21,27]. The flower heads are small and
numerous [2,7,22]. Burrobrush has a shallow root system
consisting of a relatively short taproot with prominent laterals [20].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM:
Phanerophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES:
Burrobrush reproduces mostly by seed but can also reproduce by
sprouting [13,29,41]. Flowers are borne on 2-year-old branches which,
following fruit development, die back to the ground. Flowers are wind
pollinated [21]. Burrobrush fruits contain only one seed and are
disseminated by wind or water [19,21,37].
The seeds have high viability and germination rates compared to other
desert shrubs [26,41]. In a 16-day germination study, they had one of
the highest rates of germination (57 percent) of seven species of desert
shrubs. Burrobrush seedlings emerged well from 0.39- and
0.79-inch (1- and 2-cm) plantings but not from depths of 1.5 inches (4
cm) or more [41]. Stratification has been shown to have no effect on
germination rate. Seed treatments used to increase burrobrush
germination in the laboratory, and their results, have been described by
Graves and others [13].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS:
Burrobrush is commonly found in sandy washes, alluvial fans, and
rocky slopes [2,18,21]. It generally grows on well-drained, sandy,
alkaline soils [22,33], and is found at elevations between 2,200 and
2,950 feet (670-900 m) [39].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS:
Burrobrush is a short-lived pioneer or invader species. It is
common and often very abundant on disturbed sites [24,34,35]. White
burrobrush is often the primary short-lived pioneer species found in
small desert washes [36]. It may be present in very low numbers in
stable, old creosotebush communities [36]. The life span of white
burrobrush is not known but is estimated at only a few decades [34].
Burrobrush was the most abundant pioneer shrub on a disturbed
pipeline construction site in creosotebush scrub vegetation of the
Mojave Desert. In some disturbed areas burrobrush made up as much
as 85 percent of the vegetative cover 12 years after the original
vegetation had been removed [35]. Another Mojave Desert study of
disturbed creosotebush scrub, at three military camps abandoned for 40
years, found that burrobrush was dominant in the majority of
disturbed sites. It also had percentage cover values similar to or
greater than controls in most areas where substrate alterations were
significant [24].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Burrobrush flowers from March through June [1,18,20,22]. New leaf
and twig growth is initiated after summer and winter rains. Both leaf
and twig tissues are thus present during the periods of peak seasonal
productivity [6]. At one site in southern Nye County, Nevada, the range
of beginning dates of phenophases over a 6-year period was as follows
[1]:
leaf- March through April
flower bud- mid-March through mid-April
flower- early April through early May.
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Hymenoclea salsola
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:
Fires are infrequent in communities where burrobrush occurs
because of low productivity and discontinuous fuels [23]; nevertheless,
fire is a natural component of these communities [16,42]. White
burrobrush establishes after fire via off-site seeds and sprouting
(sprout origin unspecified) [29,38]. Because it seeds prolifically,
burrobrush can quickly colonize burned sites [38].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY:
Small shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)
FIRE REGIMES:
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in
which this species may occur by entering the species name in the
FEIS home page under "Find Fire Regimes".
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Hymenoclea salsola
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:
Burrobrush is often top-killed by fire. Most burrobrush
plants were burned to ground level by a severe summer fire in the Snow
Creek area of Riverside County, California [23]. In a canyon in the San
Ysidro Mountains, California, a July wildfire in the chaparral-desert
ecotone top-killed nearly all burrobrush plants. Occasional small
pockets of plants in protected areas were not harmed [29].
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:
Burrobrush populations recover quickly after fire via off-site
seeds and sprouting [23,29]. Five years after the Snow Creek fire,
burrobrush frequency and cover were greater on burned than
unburned sites [23]. Following the July fire in the San Ysidro
Mountains, more than 90 percent of burrobrush plants survived by
sprouting. Some burrobrush started sprouting within 2 months
after the fire. Regrowth is summarized below [29]:
# of resprouting Mean # of Mean length of
plants/ha sprouts/plant sprouts (cm)
2 months after 5 1 3.8
fire (Sept)
4 months after 114 9 14.5
fire (Nov)
7 months after 247 6 10.4
fire (Feb)
10 months after 79 12 33.3
fire (June)
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE:
The Research Project Summary Nonnative annual grass fuels and fire in
California's Mojave Desert provides information on prescribed fire and
postfire response of plant community species, including burrobrush,
that was not available when this species review was written.
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Hymenoclea salsola
REFERENCES:
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