Brickellia is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of about 100 species of plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s in the sunflower family

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

 (Asteraceae), known commonly as brickellbushes. They are found in North America, Mexico, and Central America. Many species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 are native to the American southwest, especially Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. Brickellia is among the more basal lineages of the Eupatorieae

Eupatorieae

Eupatorieae is a tribe of over 2000 species of plants in the aster family. Most of the species are native to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate areas of the Americas, but some are found elsewhere...

 and should not be assigned to a subtribe pending further research.

They are mostly woody perennial shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s. Some species have a very strong pleasant scent, while others smell distasteful. All contain high amounts of essential oil

Essential oil

An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils or aetherolea, or simply as the "oil of" the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove...

s, and Germacrene D, a natural insecticide

Insecticide

An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind...

, is found in B. veronicaefolia and probably other if not all species.

Regardless their chemical defense, brickellbushes are food for caterpillar

Caterpillar

Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...

s of certain Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

. These include the noctuid moths

Noctuidae

The Noctuidae or owlet moths are a family of robustly-built moths that includes more than 35,000 known species out of possibly 100,000 total, in more than 4,200 genera. They constitute the largest family in the Lepidoptera....

 Schinia buta

Schinia buta

Schinia buta is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is endemic to southeast California and northwest Nevada.The wingspan is about 28 mm.The larvae feed on Brickellia californica.-External links:**...

(only known from California Brickellbush, B. californica

Brickellia californica

Brickellia californica is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name California brickellbush. It is native to western North America from Baja California to Idaho to Oklahoma. It is a common plant in many habitat types, especially in dry areas.This is a thickly...

), Schinia gracilenta

Schinia gracilenta

The Slender Flower Moth or Iva Flower Moth is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found from New York to Florida and Nebraska to Arizona.The wingspan is about 28 mm. There is one generation per year....

(known from False Boneset, B. eupatorioides), Schinia oleagina

Schinia oleagina

Schinia oleagina is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found in most of the western half of North America.The wingspan is about 27 mm.The larvae feed on Brickellia.-External links:**...

(only known from this genus) and Schinia trifascia

Schinia trifascia

The Three-Lined Flower Moth is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is found from Ontario and Massachusetts south to Florida and west to Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming. It has also been reported from Louisiana....

.

Classification

The genera Brickelliastrum (United States and Mexico), Asanthus (United States and Mexico), Dyscritogyne (Mexico), and Steviopsis have been separated from Brickellia by many 20th century authors (and all four combined into Steviopsis by some). Their correct placement is still unclear.

Selected species

• Brickellia amplexicaulis – Earleaf Brickellbush
• Brickellia arguta
  Brickellia arguta
  Brickellia arguta is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name pungent brickellbush. It is native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of California, Nevada, and Baja California. This is a thickly branching shrub growing angled, glandular stems two to four meters in...
  
  – Pungent Brickellbush
• Brickellia brachyphylla – Plumed Brickellbush
• Brickellia californica
  Brickellia californica
  Brickellia californica is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name California brickellbush. It is native to western North America from Baja California to Idaho to Oklahoma. It is a common plant in many habitat types, especially in dry areas.This is a thickly...
  
  – California Brickellbush
• Brickellia coixtlahuaca
• Brickellia cordifolia – Flyr's Nemesis
• Brickellia coulteri – Coulter's Brickellbush
• Brickellia cylindracea – Gravelbar Brickellbush
• Brickellia desertorum
  Brickellia desertorum
  Brickellia desertorum is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name desert brickellbush. It is native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of California, Nevada, and Arizona, where it is a common member of the desert scrub flora.This is a densely branching shrub with...
  
  – Desert Brickellbush
• Brickellia eupatorioides – False Boneset
• Brickellia grandiflora
  Brickellia grandiflora
  Brickellia grandiflora is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name tasselflower brickellbush. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Missouri to Central Mexico, where it grows in many types of habitat.This is an upright perennial herb growing...
  
  – Tassel-flowered Brickellbush
• Brickellia greenei
  Brickellia greenei
  Brickellia greenei is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name Greene's brickellbush. It is native to the mountain ranges of Oregon and northern California, including the northern Sierra Nevada....
  
  – Greene's Brickellbush
• Brickellia huahuapana
• Brickellia incana
  Brickellia incana
  Brickellia incana is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name woolly brickellbush. It is native to the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert - in California, Nevada, and Arizona....
  
  – Woolly Brickellbush
• Brickellia knappiana – Knapp Brickellbush
• Brickellia mosieri – Florida Brickellbush
• Brickellia nevinii
  Brickellia nevinii
  Brickellia nevinii is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name Nevin's brickellbush. It is native to California and Nevada, where it is an uncommon resident of desert and mountain scrub plant communities....
  
  – Nevin's Brickellbush
• Brickellia oblongifolia – Mojave Brickellbush, Narrow-leaved Brickellbush
• Brickellia peninsularis
  • Brickellia peninsularis var. amphithalassa
• Brickellia rusbyi – Stinking Brickellbush
• Brickellia venosa – Veiny Brickellbush
• Brickellia veronicaefolia

External links

• USDA Plants Profile: Brickellia
• Jepson Manual Treatment - Brickellia