Silver Sagebrush
Silver Sagebrush
Artemisia cana Pursh.
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family
▲ young plant
▲ ▼ early summer growth
▲ ▼ plants on prairie at Little Bighorn National Monument
▲ mature plant
▲ closer view of leaves on mature plant
Artemisia cana Pursh, Silver Sagebrush: (Bayer Code: ARTCN; US Code ARCA13)
- Native, simple perennial, semi-woody plant with upright, white-woolly stems growing 1-3 feet tall
- Leaves are linear, sometimes with a few shallow lobes near the leaf tip, and white-woolly due to pubescence
- Leaves have nice medicinal odor
- Flowers tiny, yellow, inconspicuous in axils of leaves in upper portions of the plant
- Found in dry and sandy soils in upper Midwest, mainly in prairie, rangeland
- 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
- Big sagebrush (A. tridentata) has slightly wider leaves with three short teeth at their leaftips
- 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
- 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
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)