General: Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) is a fairly large, upright, brushy shrub with upright stems and blue green leaves divided into three lobes at the tip. Flowerheads are small and borne along the upper stem.

Big Sagebrush is one of the dominant shrub species in the Great Basin Desert, and it extends into the Mojave Desert at higher elevations and is a fairly common component of mountain communities in drier areas in the Upper Sonoran (Pinyon-Juniper Woodland), Transition (Yellow Pine), and Canadian (Pine-Fir Forest) life zones.

There are three subspecies of Big Sagebrush. Wyoming Big Sagebrush is our standard sagebrush of big, open valleys with a rounded top. Basin Big Sagebrush is a very tall plant of fertile soils with a distinct trunk, and Mountain Big Sagebrush of higher elevations is smaller with a flattish top.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Other Names:

Plant Form: Upright, brushy shrub.

Height: Usually to about 4 feet, often higher.

Stems: Upright.

Leaves: Usually 1/2 to 2 inches, wedge-shaped with 3 lobes at the tip, densely hairy, which gives them a gray-green appearance. Leaves often in axillary clusters. Keeps leaves during winter.

Flowers: Blooms during summer. Inflorescence: flowerheads along about 5-7 inches of stem, held close to stem. Flowerheads very small; individual flowers tiny.

Seeds:

Habitat: Middle elevations in the mountains.

Elevation: Usually above 6,000 to tree line, but occurs at lower elevations in places like Lost Creek, Pine Creek, and other canyons along the Red Rocks cliffs.

Distribution: Western North America.

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