Brittlebush

Encelia farinosa

Silver leaves and bright yellow flowers make this a familiar desert shrub.

View photographs (3)Meet the plant

In this guide: Native
Plant group: Shrubs & flowering vines
Typical setting: Desert slopes
Main flowering season: Late winter–spring · rain dependent

From the photo journal

A closer look.

Open a photograph to see the details. Use the arrows or swipe to explore the gallery.

02Brittlebush in flower · La Quinta Cove · March 10, 2025

03Brittlebush foliage and flower stalks · Randall Henderson Loop · 2024

Photographs from Desert Oasis Insider’s plant collection. Locations are shown where recorded in the original gallery.

Leaves, flowers & desert life

Get to know this plant.

About this classification: Native

Native to the California desert region or nearby mountains. The setting listed above matters: a mountain native may not belong to the hot valley floor.

01 / The leaves

Silver in the sunlight.

Fine hairs give the leaves a pale, silvery look. Start with that soft-looking foliage and the rounded shape of the shrub.

02 / The flowers

Yellow held above the leaves.

Bright yellow, daisy-like flower heads rise on long stalks above the foliage. Together, the flowers and silver leaves make a useful identification pair.

At home on desert slopes.

Brittlebush is a native perennial shrub of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, often found on dry, rocky slopes. Around the Coachella Valley, its yellow flowers can transform a hillside after favorable winter rain.

The photographs here include La Quinta Cove and the Randall Henderson Loop. Compare the flowering plant from March with the foliage and stalks in the other views: the same plant can look very different through the year.

A plant that follows the rain.

Use the season as a clue, then look at the plant itself. Rainfall and local conditions shape what you will find.

After rain
Fresh leaves and new growth can follow moisture.
Late winter & spring
The main flowering period brings yellow blooms above the leaves.
Dry weather
Leaves may be shed as the shrub responds to drought.

Part of a living desert.

Flowers draw insect visitors, seeds feed birds and small mammals, and bighorn sheep may browse the plant. A closer look at one shrub can open up a much larger story.

Meet the valley’s bighorn sheep

Photo notes & plant references

Photographs are from Desert Oasis Insider’s existing Brittlebush gallery. The La Quinta Cove date and Randall Henderson Loop location are recorded in the original filenames. Flowering varies from year to year; these photographs are not a current bloom report.

Southwest Desert Flora: Brittlebush species profile