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Douglas
Rabbitbrush
Common
Name(s):
Douglas Rabbitbrush
Green Rabbitbrush
Scientific
Name:
Chrysothamnus
viscidiflorus (Hook.) Nutt.
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
None known
Symbol:
CHVI8
Description:
Life Span: Perennial
Origin:
Native
Season: Deciduous
Growth Characteristics:
Douglas
rabbitbrush is an erect shrub, branching from near the base, with
a rounded crown, growing 1 to 3 ½ feet tall. It flowers July
to September and reproduces from seed and vegetatively by vigorous
sprouting.
Flowers/Inflorescence:
Inflorescences
are in flat-top or round clusters with many branches. The flowers
are small and yellow.
Fruits/Seeds:
Fruit is a wedge-shaped achene that is flattened, light brown, with
5 ribs. It is pubescent and slightly barbed, and produces an abundance
of small, viable, plumed seeds that are easily dispersed by wind.
Leaves: Alternate,
green, and usually twisted.
Stems: Twigs
are mostly erect, stiff, brittle, striate, greenish or white glabrous,
and semi-glossy. The trunk bark is light brown and shreddy.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Occurs
in dry, open valley and on hillsides in sagebrush, ponderosa pine,
lodgepole pine, or aspen belts at elevations between 2,600 and 11,000
feet. It is well adapted to drought and exhibits salt tolerance.
Soils: Dry,
well-drained, medium to coarse textured soils. It is common on alkaline
soils.
Associated Species:
Big
sagebrush, aspen, ponderosa
pine, lodgepole pine, winterfat,
and cheatgrass.
Uses and
Management:
Douglas
rabbitbrush has little to no value as a forage species. Sheep and
cattle occasionally use it for browse when other feed is not available.
Deer browse lightly on it in the summer and winter. Elk utilize
it in the winter.
Douglas rabbitbrush can be a somewhat weedy plant, increasing where
there has been serious damage to the more desirable forage. It quickly
and aggressively invades disturbed, open sites including burns and
overgrazed rangelands.
Southwest Indians chewed the roots of Douglas rabbitbrush as gum.
It contains rubber, especially when growing in alkali soils.
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