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Plant Profile

San Diego Bursage (Ambrosia chenopodiifolia)

Photo Credit: Zoya Akulova

Global Rank: G3 - Vulnerable
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Asteraceae
State: CA, MX
Nature Serve ID: 143921
Lifeform: Shrub, Subshrub
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

Though commonly known as the San Diego bursage, Ambrosia chenopodiifolia is originally native to Baja California and has only recently expanded north into the San Diego region. A type of coastal sage scrub, its a dense perennial plant with slender, tough branches that are lined with hooked spines. Between April through June, it produces small yellow-orange, fuzzy blossoms that grow out in grouped bundles on upward-growing branches. Unlike in Baja, where its occurrence is frequent, A. chenopodiifolias range in California is only about 40 sq miles. In addition to its small-scale presence, its occurrence in America is regularly threatened by border patrol activity (vehicular/on-foot trampling) and development along the US-Mexico border. It is currently listed as Critically Imperiled.

Where is San Diego Bursage (Ambrosia chenopodiifolia) located in the wild?

Habitat:

- coastal sage scrub

Distribution:

Originally native to Baja California, the San Diego Bursage has only recently expanded north into San Diego County (near or along the US-Mexico border).

States & Provinces:

San Diego Bursage can be found in California, Mexico

Which CPC Partners conserve San Diego Bursage (Ambrosia chenopodiifolia)?

California Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 12/12/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, San Diego Zoo Global holds 1 accessions of Ambrosia chenopodiifolia in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 18247 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden holds 3 accessions of Ambrosia chenopodiifolia in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 6245 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

08/05/2020

Based on an August 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, San Diego Zoo Global has collected 1 seed accessions of Ambrosia chenopodiifolia from 1 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together emcompass 89 maternal plants

08/05/2020

Based on an August 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden has collected 3 seed accessions of Ambrosia chenopodiifolia from 2 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together emcompass 50 maternal plants