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Rubber
Rabbitbrush
Common
Name(s):
Rubber Rabbitbrush
Gray Rabbitbrush
Scientific
Name:
Ericameria
nauseosa (Pallas ex Pursh) Nesom & Baird
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
Chrysothamnus nauseosus
(Pall.) Britt.
Symbol:
ERNA10
Description:
Life Span: Perennial
Origin:
Native
Season: Short
day
Growth Characteristics:
A
12 to 90 inch tall shrub with a rounded crown and several erect
stems from the base. It flowers June to September, and reproduces
from seeds and root sprouts. The inflorescences and bracts of the
seeds often persist well into the next year.
Flowers/Inflorescence:
Yellowish
green flower, ½ inch long or smaller, arranged in an umbrella
shaped head.
Fruits/Seeds:
Fruit is an achene.
Leaves: Alternate,
linear to spatula shaped blades with entire margins. The leaves
are 1 to 3 nerved.
Stems: Twigs
are erect, flexible (rubbery), yellowish-green, and covered with
a dense felt-like covering. The trunk is gray-brown with small cracks.
The bark is fibrous and somewhat shreddy.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Rubber
rabbitbrush occurs in the cold deserts of the Colorado Plateau,
throughout much of the Great Basin, and in warm deserts of the Southwest
from lower-elevation Sonoran to subalpine zones. Rubber rabbitbrush
favors sunny, open sites throughout a wide variety of habitats including
open plains, valleys, drainage ways, foothills, and mountains. It
is particularly common on disturbed sites. Rubber rabbitbrush is
cold hardy, and tolerant of both moisture and salt stress.
Rubber rabbitbrush exhibits a number of adaptations for surviving
in an arid environment. One of these is that leaves and stems are
covered with a felt-like layer of trichomes that insulate the plant
and reduce transpiration.
Soils: Rubber
rabbitbrush grows on a wide range of soils. Soils tend to be medium
to coarse-textured and somewhat basic, but may range from moderately
acidic to strongly alkaline. This shrub commonly grows on dry, sandy,
gravelly or heavy clay, and is somewhat salt tolerant.
Associated Species:
Chokecherry,
basin wildrye, big
sagebrush, western wheatgrass.
Uses and
Management:
Rubber
rabbitbrush is, in general, considered of little value to all classes
of livestock. It is an important browse species on depleted rangelands.
In general, wildlife and livestock forage only lightly on this species
during the summer, but winter use can be heavy in some locations.
Fall use is variable, but flowers are often used by wildlife and
livestock. A few leaves and the more tender stems may also be used.
It is occasionally reported to be toxic to livestock.
Dense stands of rubber rabbitbrush may indicate poor range management
or abandoned agricultural land.
American Indians made chewing gum from pulverized wood and bark.
It was also used as tea, cough syrup, yellow dye, and for chest
pains. It is a small commercial source for rubber extraction, and
was studied extensively during World War II as a substitute for
commercial rubber.
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