Blackbush scrub,Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam Mackay, p18, 252 or blackbrush scrub,Canyon Country Wildflowers, Damian Fagan, p 3, 105 is a vegetation type of the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

deserts A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one ...

characterized by low growing, dark gray blackbush (''

Coleogyne ramosissima ''Coleogyne ramosissima'' or blackbrush, is a low lying, dark grayish-green, aromatic,Turner, Raymond M. 1982. Great Basin desertscrub. In: Brown, David E., ed. Biotic communities of the American Southwest--United States and Mexico. Desert Plan ...

'') as the dominant species. Blackbush often occurs in pure stands, giving a uniform dark gray appearance to the landscape.

Mojave Desert

Blackbrush scrub occurs over a wide elevation range in the Mojave Desert. It may occur as an

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 abov ...

Joshua tree woodland Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

or pinyon-juniper woodland. Associates in the Mojave Desert include ephedra ('' Ephedra nevadensis'', ''

Ephedra viridis ''Ephedra viridis'', known by the common names green Mormon tea, green ephedra, and Indian tea, is a species of ''Ephedra''. It is indigenous to the Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, ...

''), hop-sage ''

Grayia spinosa ''Grayia'' may refer to: * ''Grayia'' (snake), a genus of African water snakes * ''Grayia'' (plant), a genus of desert shrubs in the family Amaranthaceae {{Genus disambiguation ...

'', turpentine broom ('' Thamnosma montana''), horsebrush ('' Tedradymia spp.''), cheesebush (''

Ambrosia salsola ''Ambrosia salsola'', commonly called cheesebush, winged ragweed, burrobush, white burrobrush, and desert pearl, is a species of perennial shrub in the family Asteraceae native to deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico ...

''), and winter fat (''

Krascheninnikovia lanata ''Krascheninnikovia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae known as winterfat, so-called because it is a nutritious livestock forage. They are known from Eurasia and western North America. Th ...

'').

Colorado Plateau

In the

Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau, also known as the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This province covers an area of ...

, it occurs across uniformly thin soils.

References

{{- Natural history of the Mojave Desert Plant communities of California Plant communities of the Western United States Flora of the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region