BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Chamaebatiaria millefolium | Desert Sweet 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Desert sweet is a densely branched, aromatic shrub 3.3 to 6.6 feet (1-3
m) tall.  The stems and herbage are glandular and stellate-pubescent
when young.  Desert sweet leaves are 0.4 to 3.2 inches (1-8 cm) long and
are twice-pinnately compound.  They resemble minute fern fronds.  The
inflorescence is a panicle or raceme and the fruit is a follicle with
few seeds [7,8,12,13,20].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Little information concerning reproduction in desert sweet is available
in the literature.  No pregermination treatment is required for fresh
seeds, although stored seeds require 3 months of cold-moist
stratification prior to planting [21].
 


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Desert sweet is generally found in dry, rocky habitats [7,12,13] from
4,500 to 8,000 feet (1,360-2,400 m) elevation in Arizona [8], and from
about 3,000 to 11,000 feet (900-3,300 m) elevation in California [7,13].
In eastern Nevada desert sweet is found in mountain brush communities at
intermediate elevations on xeric, rocky sites, usually on soils of
limestone parent materials [18].

Desert sweet grows well on gravel, sandy loam, loam, and clay loam soils [2].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Desert sweet flowers from July to November in Arizona [8] and from June
to August in California [13].

Related categories for Species: Chamaebatiaria millefolium | Desert Sweet