|
Artemisia
bigelovii. (Dwarf Sagebrush) Semi-desert,
foothills. Shrublands. Fall. This rimrock loving species of shrub looks at first much like a miniature Seriphidium tridentatum (see below) with lobed leaves, woody stems and base, and long clusters of miniature flowers in the fall. (The dried gray flower stalks persist.) Artemisia bigelovii flowers do, however, have rays, in contrast to the rayless Seriphidium tridentatum and A. bigelovii always stays compact, growing to about two feet wide and high. In 1857 Asa Gray named this plant for John Bigelow who collected numerous new species with the Mexican Boundary and Whipple Surveys. Bigelow collected this species in Texas. (More biographical information.) |
|
|
Artemisia
bigelovii. (Dwarf Sagebrush) Semi-desert,
foothills. Shrublands. Fall. Buff-colored dried flower stalks from last year's growth mix with this year's flowers just beginning to open. |
|
|
Artemisia
bigelovii. (Dwarf Sagebrush) Semi-desert,
foothills. Shrublands. Fall. The top picture shows that first leaves are rounded and then gradually become three-lobed. Velvety hairs thickly cover the leaves, but in the center of the picture you can see the actual bright green of the leaf where I scraped off the hairs. The bottom picture shows that upper stem leaves of flowering branches can be linear and smooth-edged or have just a hint of notching. |
|
|
Artemisia
filifolia (Sand Sagebrush) Semi-desert.
Shrublands, sand. Late summer, fall. This pleasantly aromatic and very handsome Sage grows from two-to-five feet tall in deep sandy soils. It flowers yellow-to-brown in late summer and fall. Fine foliage gives rise to its Latin specific epithet, "filifolia". |
|
|
Artemisia
filifolia (Sand Sagebrush) Semi-desert.
Shrublands, sand. Late summer, fall. Arching, slender leaves, young stems, and tiny yellow/brown flowers are covered in soft hairs. |
