Big Sagebrush
Big Sagebrush
Artemisia tridentata Nutt.
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)
▲ seedling
▲ ▼ young plants
▲ ▼ mature, flowering plants in Nevada
▲ plant showing dried flowering stems
Artemisia tridendata Nutt., Big Sagebrush: (Bayer Code: ARTTR; US Code ARTR2)
- Shrub-forming, native perennial that can grow 2-5 feet tall and equally wide
- Has gray-green leaves that are slender, but wider toward tip, where they have 3 lobes or teeth
- Leaves have medicinal odor
- Inflorescences tiny, in axils of leaves on upper portion of stems; pollen can be allergenic, similar to ragweed pollen
- Found in dry sites, more common in higher elevations and northern prairies and rangeland
- Tends to increase in overgrazed areas
Characteristics to allow distinguishing from similar native species:
- Sand sagebrush (A. filifolia) has 3-lobed leaves with linear lobes and linear leaves in upper portions of the plant
- Louisiana wormwood (A. ludoviciana) is more common in the central Midwest and has linear lanceolate leaves that are unlobed or with a few shallow but wide (not linear) lobes
- Silver sagebrush (A. cana) has slightly wider, generally unlobed or shallowly lobed leaves throughout plant and is more common further north or at higher elevations
- Fringed sagebrush (A. frigida) does not produce persistent woody stems as do the other sagebrush mentioned, and its leaves are smaller (less than 1 inch diameter) and very much divided
Native sagebrush/wormwood (Artemisia) species can provide valuable foot and habitat for many wildlife species, and so should not always be considered a weed in the sense that they should be controlled or eradicated.
Proper range management often allows for native species to continue as well as provide adequate grazing for domestic animals.
(Posted January 19, 2019)