''Artemisia arbuscula'' is a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n species of

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia (plant), Artemisia''. The best-known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrush is native to the western half of North Amer ...

known by the common names little sagebrush, low sagebrush, or black sagebrush. It is native to the western

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from Washington,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

east as far as

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. It grows in open, exposed habitat on dry, sterile soils high in rock and clay content.Calflora taxon report, University of California, ''Artemisia arbuscula'' Nutt., Black sagebrush, low sagebrush
/ref>

Description

''Artemisia arbuscula'' is a gray-green to gray

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

forming mounds generally no higher than . Its many branches are covered in hairy leaves each less than a centimeter long. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a spike-shaped array of clusters of hairy

flower heads A pseudanthium (; : pseudanthia) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, composite flowers ...

. Each head contains a few pale yellow

disc floret Asteraceae () is a large family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae, and which is the larger fa ...

s but no

ray florets Asteraceae () is a large family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae, and which is the larger fa ...

. The fruit is a tiny

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple fruit, simple dry fruits, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and Dehi ...

less than a millimeter wide. ;Subspecies * ''Artemisia arbuscula'' subsp. ''arbuscula'' * ''Artemisia arbuscula'' subsp. ''longiloba'' (Osterh.) L.M.Shultz * ''Artemisia arbuscula'' subsp. ''thermopola'' Beetle -

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

Galls

This species is host to the following insect induced galls: * '' Eutreta diana'' (Osten Sacken, 1877) fly stem gall * '' Rhopalomyia conica'' * '' Rhopalomyia medusa'' Gagné, 1983 Sagebrush Medusa Gall Midge * '' Rhopalomyia obovata'' Gagné, 1983 Eutreta_diana_1.jpg, ''Eutreta diana'' gall Rhopalomyia_conica_1.jpg, ''Rhopalomyia conica'' gall Rhopalomyia_medusa_1.jpg, ''Rhopalomyia medusa'' gall

References

External links

* *
United States Department of Agriculture National Forest Service Info Sheet

Save The Sagebrush Sea

Gallformers
arbuscula Flora of the Western United States Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of California Plants described in 1841 Taxa named by Thomas Nuttall Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Anthemideae-stub