Hairyseed Bahia
Picradeniopsis absinthifolia
Family: Asteraceae
Herbaceous perennial growing about a foot high, spreading about 2’, and reseeding about the landscape like a wildflower. Silver foliage is evergreen but benefits from an occasional cutback.
Full sun, moderate to low water, hardy to 15°F.
Great nectar plant. Flowers are heaviest in spring and fall. Larval food plant for a few owlet moths (family Noctuidae).
This plant used to be known as Bahia absinthifolia. The genus has a distribution in the southwestern United States, northern Mexico, Guatemala, and Chile, and is found in dry areas. The etymology of the new genus name, Picradeniopsis, is unclear. Bahia, the old genus name, is named after Juan Francisco de Bahi y Fonseca (1775-1841), a Spanish botany professor, while absinthifolia means with leaves like absinthium (i.e. Artemisia absinthium), which is the herb used to flavor Absinthe.
It is native to northern Mexico (Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila, Chihuahua, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Durango, Aguascalientes) and the southwestern United States (Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas; populations reported from Utah appear to be introductions).