Arizona Owners Desert Broom! Edible or Dangerous for sulcata

[Hugo's Home]

Hello all,
New here from Arizona! Soon to be owner of a 9 yr old sulcata.

We have a bunch of desert broom aka. Baccharis sarothroides. Belongs to the aster family. As some of you might know this is a native shrub that grows abundantly here in the shouthwest. When it seeds out there are thousands of "snow" like seeds that float everywhere! Just wondering if anyone has has any troubles with it with their sulcatas or other tortoises eating it.

I would love to keep it as they will provide shade and are evergreen native bushes that dont need supplemental water.

Thanks!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi

 

[RosemaryDW]

I wish I knew!

We have a local California braccharis in our yard (Baccharis pilularis pilularis). At one time time I saw it on a list of desert tortoise safe foods but can't find it now, darnit

Not sure that would be useful for a sulcata anyway.

We let our Russian eat ours, as it's an aster and shrubby, like something she might find at her original home. But again, not very helpful for a sulcata.

 

[Sobergrower]

Still wondering on this

 

[Maro2Bear]

I see this is a six year old thread..anyhow Wikipedia has this regarding the chemical composition

Studies done on plant extracts show that desert broom is rich in leutolin, a flavonoid that has demonstrated anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cholesterol lowering capabilities. Desert broom also has quercetin, a proven antioxidant, and apigenin a chemical which binds to the same brain receptor sites that Valium does[5].[6] However many members of the Sunflower family also contain compounds that cause negative side effects, thus caution is advised until this plant is more extensively tested.