Artemisia bigelovii
Encyclopedia
Artemisia bigelovii is a species of sagebrush
known by the common name Bigelow sagebrush.
It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in desert
, basin
, grassland
, and juniper
woodland
habitats. It is very drought-tolerant and lives in arid regions on sandy and limestone
-rich soils. This is a bushy shrub
growing from a woody base and reaching a maximum height around half a meter. It has many slender, curving branch
es with shreddy bark
and is generally rounded in shape. The stem
branches and leaves
are coated in silvery hairs, giving the plant a gray color. The leaves are less than 3 centimeters long and may end in a point or in three distinct teeth. The inflorescence
is a panicle
of flower heads
containing yellowish disc florets and occasionally a small ray floret. The fruit
is a tiny achene
about a millimeter long. This species of sagebrush is good winter fodder
for grazing animals and it is cultivated as plant cover on recovering rangeland
and for erosion
control.
Sagebrush (plant)
Sagebrush is the common name for Artemisia tridentata and a number of other species of shrubby plants in the genus Artemisia, native to the North American west and other parts of the world. It is sometimes confused with sage plants ....
known by the common name Bigelow sagebrush.
It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
, basin
Depression (geology)
A depression in geology is a landform sunken or depressed below the surrounding area. Depressions may be formed by various mechanisms.Structural or tectonic related:...
, grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
, and juniper
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
habitats. It is very drought-tolerant and lives in arid regions on sandy and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
-rich soils. This is a bushy shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
growing from a woody base and reaching a maximum height around half a meter. It has many slender, curving branch
Branch
A branch or tree branch is a woody structural member connected to but not part of the central trunk of a tree...
es with shreddy bark
Bark
Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
and is generally rounded in shape. The stem
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
branches and leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are coated in silvery hairs, giving the plant a gray color. The leaves are less than 3 centimeters long and may end in a point or in three distinct teeth. The inflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a panicle
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
of flower heads
Head (botany)
The capitulum is considered the most derived form of inflorescence. Flower heads found outside Asteraceae show lesser degrees of specialization....
containing yellowish disc florets and occasionally a small ray floret. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is a tiny achene
Achene
An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate and indehiscent...
about a millimeter long. This species of sagebrush is good winter fodder
Fodder
Fodder or animal feed is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin...
for grazing animals and it is cultivated as plant cover on recovering rangeland
Rangeland
Rangelands are vast natural landscapes in the form of grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, steppes, and tundras...
and for erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
control.