''Artemisia filifolia'', known by

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s including sand sagebrush, sand sage and sandhill sage, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family.Flora of North America Vol. 19, 20 and 21 Page 508 Sand sage ''Artemisia filifolia'' Torrey, Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York. 2: 211. 1827.
/ref> It is native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, where it occurs from Nevada east to South Dakota and from there south to Arizona,

Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places *Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mun ...

, and Texas.McWilliams, Jack (2003)
''Artemisia filifolia''.
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Retrieved 12-26-2011.Turner, B. L. 1996. The Comps of Mexico: A systematic account of the family Asteraceae, vol. 6. Tageteae and Athemideae. Phytologia Memoirs 10: i–ii, 1–22, 43–93.

Description

''Artemisia filifolia'' is a branching woody

shrub A shrub (often also called a 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 ...

growing up to tall. The stems are covered narrow, threadlike leaves up to long and no more than half a millimeter wide. The leaves are sometimes split into segments. They are solitary or arranged in

fascicle Fascicle or ''fasciculus'' may refer to: Anatomy and histology * Muscle fascicle, a bundle of skeletal muscle fibers * Nerve fascicle, a bundle of axons (nerve fibers) ** Superior longitudinal fasciculus *** Arcuate fasciculus ** Gracile fas ...

s. The inflorescence is a

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

of hanging

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) 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, compos ...

. Each head contains sterile disc florets and 2 to 3 fertile ray florets. The fruit is a tiny

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

. The achenes do not tend to disperse far from the parent plant.

Ecology

''Artemisia filifolia'' is a

dominant species Ecological dominance is the degree to which one or several species have a major influence controlling the other species in their ecological community (because of their large size, population, productivity, or related factors) or make up more of ...

across much of the west-central United States, particularly in areas where the substrate is a deep, sandy soil. It is an indicator of sandy soils. It is efficient for preventing erosion on such soils.Sand Sagebrush.
Range Plants of Utah. Utah State University. Retrieved 12-26-2011. It is common in parts of the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

, where it is a dominant component of prairie, grassland, and

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

ecosystems alongside grasses such as

sand bluestem ''Andropogon hallii'' (sand bluestem, sand hill bluestem, Hall's bluestem, Hall's beardgrass, prairie bluestem, turkey-foot) is a sod-forming perennial species in the grass family, Poaceae. It is a bunchgrass which grows in tufts and can reach 7 ...

, grama grasses, sand reedgrass, little bluestem, and

sand dropseed ''Sporobolus cryptandrus'' is a species of grass known as sand dropseed. It is native to North America, where it is widespread in southern Canada, most of the United States, and northern Mexico. Description ''Sporobolus cryptandrus'' is a peren ...

.Western Great Plains Sandhill Shrubland.
Ecosystems. Colorado State. Retrieved 12-26-2011. Some regions dominated by this sagebrush include the occurrences of the sandsage prairie from Nebraska to central Texas, various river systems in eastern Colorado and Kansas, the sandhills and mixed-grass prairies of Colorado, and parts of southeastern Wyoming. In Texas, it is common in the Trans-Pecos region, where it grows with honey mesquite, and many other areas in the state where it grows with sand shinnery oak. This ecosystem is most commonly affected by fire and grazing. Before modern fire suppression, the ecosystem was maintained by a pattern of disturbance caused by natural wildfire and grazing by

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

, a pattern which is called ''

pyric herbivory A pyrrhic (; el, πυρρίχιος ''pyrrichios'', from πυρρίχη ''pyrrichē'') is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of two unaccented, short syllables. It is also known as a dibrach. Poetic use in English Tennyson us ...

''.

Rangeland impact

When humans began to use this terrain as rangeland, this system was altered, causing a

homogenization Homogeneity is a sameness of constituent structure. Homogeneity, homogeneous, or homogenization may also refer to: In mathematics *Transcendental law of homogeneity of Leibniz * Homogeneous space for a Lie group G, or more general transformati ...

of life forms in the habitat.Doxon, E. D., et al. (2011)
Aboveground macroinvertebrate diversity and abundance in sand sagebrush prairie managed with the use of pyric herbivory.
''Rangeland Ecol Manage.'' 64 394-403. Retrieved 12-26-2011. A balanced regime of fire and grazing is required to sustain the biodiversity of this type of rangeland.Winter, S. L., et al. (2011)
Restoration of the fire–grazing interaction in ''Artemisia filifolia'' shrubland.
''Journal of Applied Ecology.'' Online preview. Retrieved 12-26-2011. Fire also helps prevent the succession of woody vegetation onto shrublands. The sagebrush is tolerant of fire, resprouting vigorously after its aboveground parts are burned away.Vermeire, L. T., et al
Sand sagebrush response to fall and spring prescribed burning.
In: McArthur, E. Durant, et al. comps. (2001). Shrubland ecosystem genetics and biodiversity: proceedings; 2000 June 13–15; Provo, UT. Proc. RMRS-P-21. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Retrieved 12-26-2011.

Ecosystem

Sand sagebrush ecosystems are important habitat types for many animals.

Prairie dog Prairie dogs (genus ''Cynomys'') are herbivorous burrowing ground squirrels native to the grasslands of North America. Within the genus are five species: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. In Mexico, p ...

s build towns in sandy sage grassland, and when they abandon them, burrowing owls move in.

Sage grouse Sage-grouse are grouse belonging to the bird genus ''Centrocercus.'' The genus includes two species: the Gunnison grouse (''Centrocercus minimus'') and the greater sage-grouse (''Centrocercus urophasianus''). These birds are distributed through ...

live in sand sagebrush, though they prefer

big sagebrush ''Artemisia tridentata'', commonly called big sagebrush,MacKay, Pam (2013), ''Mojave Desert Wildflowers'', 2nd ed., , p. 264. Great Basin sagebrush or (locally) simply sagebrush, is an aromatic shrub from the family Asteraceae, which grows in ari ...

. Some animals eat the seeds, such as lesser prairie chickens and

scaled quail The scaled quail (''Callipepla squamata''), also commonly called blue quail or cottontop, is a species of the New World quail family. It is a bluish gray bird found in the arid regions of the Southwestern United States to Central Mexico. This spe ...

. Lesser prairie chickens also use it for cover and nesting purposes. Extensive removal of sand sagebrush has been shown to reduce the diversity and abundance of breeding birds in the habitat.Rodgers, R. D. and M. L. Sexson. (1990)
Impacts of extensive chemical control of sand sagebrush on breeding birds.
''Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.'' 45(4) 494-97. Retrieved 12-26-2011. Despite its importance in numerous ecosystems, this sagebrush can become a troublesome weed.Wilson, R. G. (1989)
Sand sagebrush (''Artemisia filifolia'') and brittle pricklypear (''Opuntia fragilis'') control.
''Weed Technology'' 3(2) 272-74. Retrieved 12-26-2011. One method of control is burning, then placing livestock where they will graze the new sprouts as they come up. It is also controlled with

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

s and mowing.

Commercial use

Sand sagebrush seed is sold commercially. It is sometimes used for revegetation efforts on rangeland and coal fields. The

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

had several uses for the plant. It was used medicinally and for ritual purposes. Being quite soft, it was used as toilet paper.''Artemisia filifolia''.
University of Michigan Ethnobotany. Retrieved 12-26-2011.

References

External links

Medicinal Plants of the SouthwestUtah State University, Range Plants of Utah
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20150923190415/http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/shrub/arfi2.htm Oklahoma Biological Survey {{Taxonbar, from=Q582243 filifolia Plants described in 1828 Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Flora of North America