Artemisia tridentata
Common name: 
Big Sagebrush
Pronunciation: 
ar-te-MIZ-i-a tri-den-TAH-ta
Family: 
Asteraceae
Genus: 
Synonyms: 
Seriphidium tridentatum
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
Yes
  • Evergreen shrub, silvery, many-branched, small to 15 ft (4.5 m) tall, occasionally resembling a tree (arborescent).  Leaves alternate, simple, aromatic, often several leaves per node, no petiole (sessile), 1-4 cm long, base long wedge-shaped (cuneate), apex 3-lobed, margin entire, silver-green on both to sides.   Flowers small, yellowish, tubular; fruit very small.
  • Sun.  Best in well-drained soil, does not need irrigation.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 4         Native to much of western North America, from British Columbia south to the southwest and California and Baja California, eastward to Nebraska and the Dakotas.
  • The species, A. tridentata, is separated into 4 - 6 subspecies:
    • A. t. subsp. tridentata - basin big sagebrush - distributed from Washington east to the Dakotas and south to California, Arizona, and New Mexico.  Basin big sagebrush is found from the floor of the Great Basin to upper timberline, although it is not abundant in all zones.  It occurs in relatively small stands east of the Cascades in Oregon.
    • A. t. subsp. spiciformis - big sagebrush
    • A. t. subsp. vaseyana - mountain big sagebrush - occurs from southern British Columbia and Alberta south to California, northern Arizona and northern New Mexico, west into central Oregon and Washington, and east into Montana, Wyoming and Colorado
    • A. t. subsp. wyomingensis - Wyoming big sagebrush - occurs from Montana and North Dakota south to California, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nebraska.
  • tridentata: three toothed
Click image to enlarge
  • typical habitat

    typical habitat

  • plant habit, small plant

    plant habit, small plant

  • branches, preflowering

    branches, preflowering

  • leaves

    leaves

  • leaf

    leaf

  • plant habit, late summer

    plant habit, late summer

  • branches

    branches

  • flower buds and leaves

    flower buds and leaves

  • flowers and leaves, fall

    flowers and leaves, fall

  • in habitat, fall

    in habitat, fall

  • plant habit, fall

    plant habit, fall

  • fruit clusters, fall

    fruit clusters, fall

  • plant habit, in a landscape, fall

    plant habit, in a landscape, fall

  • plant habit, in a landscape, winter

    plant habit, in a landscape, winter