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Chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum variant obtusifolium, San Diego, California

1,405 views · Published 17 July 2012 · 3:05 · Indexed 25 September 2026

Channel: Melvin Wei · 2012 · Science & Technology

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Chamise, or Greasewood, is an evergreen shrub that is said to reach heights up to 4 meters, although I did not see it in this particularly dense grove or "forest" that sometimes begets the name Chamise chaparral, or chamissal.  This plant is described as being dominant in coastal chaparral communities, but upon further reading I discovered that it occurs inland, far inland sometimes, and at elevations up to 1600 meters above sea level.

Chamise foliage is eaten by domestic livestock and mule deers/other big game in California not because it tastes good, but due solely to its widespread availability.  Mule deer eat its leaves throughout the year, but Chamise grows so densely that big game cannot penetrate the chamissal to access the new foliage growth after the stands become mature.

This video was taken in a so-called maritime chaparral environment near the Pacific Ocean.  The additional moisture provided by sea, especially during the summer days here which are often shrouded in marine layer fog, supposedly provide for extra Chamise growth compared to the more dry inland hills, although I still have a hard time imagining Chamise growing to a height of 4 meters except in areas in which wildfire has not struck for nearly a century.  The name Greasewood comes from the fact that the leaves, which grow in fascicles like those of California buckwheat, are shiny with flammable oils.  As you'll notice in the video, most of the branches on mature plants only have foliage at the tips of the branches.  After wildfires sweep through, the root system of Chamise goes to work regenerating the plant to recolonize the land quickly.  California's herbivores will feast on new Greasewood foliage for the first year or two after a fire sweeps through, but after that the leaves get old and start to become unpalatable to mule deer and the like.

On the surface, Chamise is an ugly, entangled mass of gray and green, but the thick branches are well-suited towards warding off predators in conjunction with the unpalatable taste.  When you are in the chaparral, chances are you are looking at Chamise, although the dominance of chaparral species rotates depending on soil conditions and geographical features in the land.  This species could very well be the emperor of the chaparral, accounting for 95% of it in places!

This particular stand of Chamise is the obtusifolium variant found mostly in San Diego, which is only subtly different from the fasciculatum variant found elsewhere by having rounded leaf tips and lack of hairs on the buds.

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