Artemisia tridentata subsp. tridentata

Big sagebrush, Big Sagebrush

Family: Asteraceae · Type: shrub · Native

Big sagebrush is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains, southern San Joaquin Valley, south Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, Great Basin, and Desert Mountains in valleys and sandy to gravelly soils at elevations of 800 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from August to November, this plant produces small yellow-green flowers in clusters less than 30 centimeters long, often surrounded by its own foliage. Growing up to 2 meters tall with multiple woody stems that spread broadly, it forms a dense, rounded shrub. Its leaves are narrowly wedge-shaped, generally 1.2 to 4 centimeters long, creating a distinctive gray-green appearance across the landscape. The fruit is glandular, contributing to the plant's characteristic aromatic quality.

Habitat: Valleys, benches, sandy to coarse gravelly soils

Bloom period: Aug-Nov

Elevation: 800-1900 m

Bioregions: KR, CaRH, SNH, Teh, s SnJV, SCoRI, TR, PR, GB, DMtns

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.