Grindelia camporum var. bracteosum (J.T. Howell)  M.A. Lane =Grindelia robusta var. robusta  Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Native Gum Plant

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Plant Characteristics:  Perennial, stems few, from a subligneous crown, stout, corymbosely branched above, 5-12 dm. long; lvs. sharply toothed to finely serrate or entire, the basal oblanceolate, to 18 cm. long, the cauline much reduced, lance-ovate to linear-oblong, clasping; heads 3-5 cm. across, often strongly and translucently resinous, the long green tips of the phyllaries rolled back in a loop; rays 25-45, yellow, 8-15 mm. long. 

Habitat:  Dry slopes and fields, below 4000 ft.; Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral; largely cismontane, n. L. Calif. to Santa Barbara Co.  March-Sept.

Name:  David Hieronymous Grindel (1776-1836), was a highly respected Estonian pharmacologist, physician and botanist.  (Dale 65).  Latin, robustus, robust.  (Jaeger 223).  Latin, bractea, a thin metal plate or scale, gold leaf. (Jaeger 39).  John Johnson says that in later usage this meaning came to mean scales in general and the scale like appendages came to be called bracts.  Bracteosum, having bracts.  Latin, campus, growing in a field.  (Jaeger 44).  Camporum, growing in a field.

General:  Occasional in the study area.  My observation is that there are usually only one or two specimens growing wherever this plant is found.  Photographed on the Santa Ana Heights Flats.  (my comments).      A decoction from the leaves of Grindelia spp., stems and buds, was taken internally by the Indians for lung troubles and applied externally for skin diseases.  (Heizer and Elsasser 131).      The drug Grindelia is derived from at least three species, G. camporum, G. squarrosa and G. humilis.   An infused or decocted extract of Grindelia acts as an expectorant and sedative, with an action resembling atropine.  Its principal use has been of value in whooping cough.  Most references mention the possible use of Grindelia for relief from ivy poisoning.  (Coon 133).      The buds are covered with a whitish gum which protects them from harsh sunlight.  The resinous tops of this and other species of Gum-Plants were used by the Indians as a wash for poison oak rash.  You can try this but you will probably be better off with something prescribed by a dermatologist.  (some authorities claim that the original Indians of California were immune to poison oak.)  A book published in 1922 informs us that each summer the top 5 inches of this plant were cut off and shipped by tons to the east, to be sent back later in the form of a medicine called Grindelia and used to soothe whooping cough, asthma, bronchitis and kindred complaints.  (Dale 64,65).      An official drug plant in European medicine, it has been deleted recently in the United States.  As a tea the leaves and flowers can be used interchangeably.   It is a useful antispasmodic for dry hacking coughs, alone or combined with Yerba Santa, Eriodictyon spp., a tablespoon in tea as needed.  A mild sedative and cardiac relaxant, although not always reliable.  (Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West 80).      Grindelia has been used for the spasm of asthma and whooping cough, for bronchial irritation and nasal congestion.  It seems to be a stimulating expectorant.  It should however, only be used in small doses or it will irritate the kidneys. Used externally in solution it is useful in burns, blisters, etc.      Indians boiled the root and drank tea for the liver; buds on the plant were dried for use with small-pox; a decoction of leaves was made for running sores; flowering tops, collected in spring, were used for blood purification and to relieve throat and lung trouble; a small quantity of decoction held in the mouth, but never swallowed, helped cure toothache.  (Sweet 59).      The 1993 Jepson Manual includes G. robusta within G. camporum and list two vars. of this species, var. bracteosum and var. camporum.  In the early summer of 1994 I confirmed that our local variety is var. bracteosum.  (my comments).       Possibly derived from var. camporum x G. hirsutula var. hirsutula and G. squarrosa var. serrulata.  (Hickman, Ed. 272).      About 50 spp. of western North and South America.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 172).      . 

Text Ref:  Dale 64; Hickman, Ed. 272; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 173; Roberts 11.

Photo Ref:  June 4 84 # 10,11.  

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by F. Roberts.  

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 177.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 10/21/02.  

                                               June Photo