All About Damianita

Damianita, also known botanically as Chrysactinia mexicana, is from the Aster family of plants. It is native to the United States and is a perennial shrub that is more used as a flower than as a shrub.

Damianita Description

Growing one to two feet high and two feet wide in a bushy form, this is an aromatic evergreen. It has dark green leaves. This very leafy plant has its stems in a mounded form. The flowers are composite, yellow, and solitary. They form on the branch tips. Blooming season is between April and September. Fruits are small and covered with very tiny bristles.

Growing Guide

Grow a damianita in full sun with a dry soil. It is very drought tolerant and cold tolerant. It does fine in clay, loam, sandy, limestone, and caliche soils. Propagate by softwood cuttings in the summertime or by seed in the spring. It is a slow growing plant.

Distribution

You can find this throughout New Mexico and Texas. It is typically found in limestone outcrops and in the desert plains area.

Classification

Kingdom Plantae- Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta- Vascular plants

Superdivision Spermatophyta- Seed plants

Division Magnoliophyta- Flowering plants

Class Magnoliopsida- Dicotyledons

Subclass Asteridae

Order Asterales

Family Asteraceae- Aster family

Genus Chrysactinia A. Gray- chrysactinia

Species Chrysactinia mexicana A. Gray- damianita

Damianita Uses

This does well whenever you need a drought hardy and fragrant plant. When planted en masse it has a nice yellow carpet of blooms, creating a taller ground cover for slopes and hillsides. It can be used as a border plant. When pruned, it can create different shapes. It provides nesting and cover for small wildlife as well as nectar for insects. It is very deer resistant.

Tips

Deadhead the plants and remove the woody stems that are underneath the plants to create a more compact shape.

Source: NPIN

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CHME3


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