Incienso

Common Name: Incienso/ Brittlebush

Scientific Name: Encelia farinosa

Date Collected: April 15th, 2011

Location: Collected at Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA in the upper region of the garden along the rock wall.

Nativity: The brittlebush grows naturally from Northern Mexico to California and southwestern United States, including Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.

Habitat: E. farinosa grows best in dry, gravelly soils along slopes and mesas, but it can tolerate other soils as well. It can grow up to 3,000 feet. Brittlebush requires a climate with long periods of little moisture.

Special Notes: E. farinosa is commonly called incensio because it was dried out and burned as incense (incensio is the Spanish word for incense)  by early Spanish missionaries in the New World. The stems of the plant were also cut and grind to form a remedy for toothache. The resin that seeped from the stem was used by Native Americans as a form of glue and chewing gum. The stem was also used as a toothbrush.

Resources:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordquery=Encelia+farinosa&mode=sciname&submit.x=0&submit.y=0
http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/encfar/all.html
 http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?609,1067,1070