NYBG EcoFlora November EcoQuest Challenge
BEHOLD BACCHARIS
Groundsel Tree (Baccharis halimifolia) is an important salt marsh species that helps to reinforce and stabilize vulnerable shorelines and provide cover for wildlife. One of the few indigenous shrubs to flower in fall, its nectar provides food for many insects, including Beetles, Bees, Flies, Wasps, and Butterflies. Your observations can help document the versatility and beauty of this often overlooked native plant.
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Over the last three years, I have noticed seedlings of this species springing up in tree pits and similar habitats all over the Upper East Side. This seems to be a new phenomenon, as I don't see any older plants (or hardly any) growing in similar settings around here, even in places that are not weeded.
And, over the past several years, I have noticed them, not only in @susanhewitt's observations - in which she documents very young plants! I have also noticed them in the plantings along the FDR Highway walk from the 70's going south. I would suspect they are spreading everywhere because of the prolific number of easily dispersed seeds each Groundsel Tree produces.
There are a lot along the Espanade in the 70s, but that entire section is closed off right now (78th to 71st) because of the big sinkhole at 77th and 76th.
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