''Artemisia rigida'' is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names scabland sagebrush and stiff sagebrush. It is native to the northwestern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

, and

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

.Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
/ref> It has been recorded in western

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

but these sightings may have been misidentifications.McWilliams, Jack. 2003
''Artemisia rigida''.
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. ''Artemisia rigida'' is a small, spreading, deciduous shrub with many woody branches up to 40 centimeters long. The stems are gray and hairy.''Artemisia rigida''.
Flora of North America. The leaves are up to 4 centimeters long and

trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other mari ...

-shaped. They are grayish in color from their coat of silvery hairs. The plant is "mildly" to "pungently"''Artemisia rigida''.
USDA FS International Institute of Tropical Forestry. scented. The flower heads are somewhat bell-shaped and measure about half a centimeter wide. They contain 4 to 8 yellow-red to red florets. ''Artemisia rigida'' grows in harsh substrates where few other plants survive. The soil is generally very shallow and covers bedrock. The bedrock is always

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

, never

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

.Daubenmire, R. (1982)
The distribution of ''Artemisia rigidia'' in Washington: A challenge to ecology and geology.
''Northwest Science'' 56(3) 162. The roots of the plant are within the shallow soil layer with some anchoring in rock fractures. There is also sometimes a layer of impermeable

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

. The substrate commonly undergoes

frost heaving Frost heaving (or a frost heave) is an upwards swelling of soil during freezing conditions caused by an increasing presence of ice as it grows towards the surface, upwards from the depth in the soil where freezing temperatures have penetrated in ...

, which breaks it up. On these unproductive sites, which occur in the

Channeled Scablands The Channeled Scablands are a relatively barren and soil-free region of interconnected relict and dry flood channels, coulees and cataracts eroded into Palouse loess and the typically flat-lying basalt flows that remain after cataclysmic floods ...

, for example, this plant is a

climax species Climax species, also called late seral, late-successional, K-selected or equilibrium species, are plant species that can germinate and grow with limited resources; e.g., they need heat exposure or low water availability. They are the species wi ...

. It is an

indicator Indicator may refer to: Biology * Environmental indicator of environmental health (pressures, conditions and responses) * Ecological indicator of ecosystem health (ecological processes) * Health indicator, which is used to describe the health ...

of scabland habitat. In the Columbia Basin it may

dominate The Dominate, also known as the late Roman Empire, is the name sometimes given to the " despotic" later phase of imperial government in the ancient Roman Empire. It followed the earlier period known as the "Principate". Until the empire was reuni ...

regions with thin soils, and have Sandberg's bluegrass as the main

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abo ...

species.Native Grasslands and Shrub-steppe.
USFWS Hanford Reach National Monument. ''Artemisia rigida'' provides food for wildlife because it is often the only plant exposed as the snow melts in the spring on mostly barren landscapes.

Livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

also like it, especially the seedheads.

References

External links

The Nature Conservancy
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4797502 rigida Plants described in 1841 Flora of North America