''Artemisia spinescens'' is a North American species of

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus '' Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub '' Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an al ...

in the sunflower family, known by the common name budsage. Many sources treat the species separately from genus '' Artemisia'' and named ''Picrothamnus desertorum''.Flora of North America, Budsage, ''Picrothamnus'' Nuttall, Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 417. 1841.
/ref> This separation has not, however, been supported by

genetic analysis Genetic analysis is the overall process of studying and researching in fields of science that involve genetics and molecular biology. There are a number of applications that are developed from this research, and these are also considered parts ...

.Forest Service Info Sheet
/ref>

Distribution and habitat

''Artemisia spinescens'' is native to the western

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 territo ...

from southern and eastern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

and the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

, north to

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

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 Colu ...

, and east to western

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

and northwestern

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, ...

.Biota of North America Program 2014 distribution map, ''Picrothamnus desertorum''
/ref> ''Artemisia spinescens'' grows in scrub and other habitat on clay and gravel-rich soils. It thrives on salty soils, growing with other salt-tolerant plants such as saltbushes (Atriplex'' sp.).Forest Service Fire Ecology
It is adapted to very dry climates.

Description

''Artemisia spinescens'' is a squat

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 tree ...

forming a rounded bush up to 30 to 50 centimeters in maximum height. Its tangled branches are woolly when new and thorny and rough when aged. The stem is woody and corky. The strongly aromatic foliage is made up of many small, fuzzy leaves divided into narrow, pointed segments. It is

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

, dropping its leaves during the dry summer when it becomes dormant. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a raceme of small clusters of

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 ...

sprouting from leaf axils. Each head contains several tiny bell-shaped sterile disc florets and a few fertile ray florets. The fruit is a tiny hairy

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 ...

less than a millimeter long.

Uses

This plant is considered good forage for wild and domestic grazing animals early in the season when the foliage is new and soft. Later in the season when the plant produces large quantities of bitter

volatile oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the ...

s it becomes unpalatable.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Artemisia spinescens'' (Bud sage)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Artemisia spinescens''
* ttp://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Artemisia+spinescens Calflora Photos gallery — ''Artemisia spinescens'' {{- spinescens Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the Great Basin Flora of New Mexico Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora of the California desert regions North American desert flora Plants described in 1841