2. Characteristics
• Silvery green shrub can be small to up to 15
ft
• Persistent, alternate leaves are sessile and
three-lobed
• Small yellow flowers borne on long spikes
• Shreddy bark
• Fragrant leaves distinguish from
Rabbitbrush and Bitterbrush
3. Ecology
• Common throughout our basin and Eastern
Oregon
• The most abundant shrub in the semi-arid portion
of the Western United States
• Most common and widely distributed sagebrush,
found all the way to Nebraska
• Important browse of game animals and sheep
• Islands to deer mice, kangaroo mice and other
desert mammals and reptiles
4. Ecology continued
• The Range Plant Handbook states that tall,
dense stands of the plant are indicative of
fertile soil suitable for small grains and
adapted for irrigated farming
• State flower of Nevada
