Full Answer
Northern Paiute: “When traveling or when hunting afoot in winter, grass or shredded sagebrush bark was stuffed inside the moccasin.” (Kelly 1932:109)
This makes a paste which is put over the body for a fever. The leaves of the sagebrush are boiled and the water drunk for a cold or for diarrhea and a strong solution was used as an emetic. Sagebrush leaves are also ground and mixed with tobacco. This is wet so it makes a paste.
Sagebrush blossoms are dipped into water and then the hair is combed with the branch of blossoms when a person has fainting spells. At the same time the person talks and tells the spirits that cause the fainting spells to stay far away "This makes the person think straight.". (Fowler 1989:128)
Northern Paiute: “ [In regards to sawa bi (big sagebrush, Artemesia tridentata) as it was used for medicine] Sagebrush ( sawabi ) leaves are ground on the metate when the leaves are dried or green. The ground leaves are mixed in cold water. This makes a paste which is put over the body for a fever. The leaves of the sagebrush are boiled and the water drunk for a cold or for diarrhea and a strong solution was used as an emetic. Sagebrush leaves are also ground and mixed with tobacco. This is wet so it makes a paste. This is applied to children for fever or put on swellings on adults or children...Small pieces of sagebrush are also stuffed into the nostrils for colds and headaches. Sagebrush blossoms are dipped into water and then the hair is combed with the branch of blossoms when a person has fainting spells. At the same time the person talks and tells the spirits that cause the fainting spells to stay far away "This makes the person think straight." (Fowler 1989:128)
This species grows from the central United States west and in New York and Massachusetts.
Northern Paiute: “ [In regards to clothing] The one-piece buckskin and/or sagebrush or rush sandals were typical footwear.” (Fowler 1989:98)
The vernacular name "sagebrush" is also used for several related members of the genus Artemisia, such as California sagebrush ( Artemisia californica ). Big Sagebrush and other Artemisia shrubs are the dominant plant species across large portions of the Great Basin.
Big sagebrush is a coarse, many-branched, pale-grey shrub with yellow flowers and silvery-grey foliage, which is generally 0.5–3 m tall. A deep taproot 1–4 m in length, coupled with laterally spreading roots near the surface, allows sagebrush to gather water from both surface precipitation and the water table several meters beneath. Big sagebrush that is over a meter tall is an indicator of arable land, because it prefers deep, basic soils. Sagebrush is generally long-lived once it makes it past the seedling stage, and can reach ages of over 100 years.
Several major threats exist to sage brush ecosystems, including human settlements, conversion to agricultural land, livestock grazing, invasive plant species, wildfires, and climate change.
Pronghorn are the only large herbivore to browse sagebrush extensively. Damage to sagebrush plants caused by grazing herbivores results in the release of volatile chemicals, which are used to signal a warning to nearby plants, so that they can increase the production of repellent chemical compounds.
Sagebrush provides food and habitat for a variety of animal species, such as sage grouse, pronghorn, gray vireo, pygmy rabbit, and mule deer. Sagebrush also creates habitat for many species of grasses and herbs.
Big sagebrush can also reproduce through sprouts, which shoot up from the underground rhizome. The sprouts are an extension of the parental plant while seedlings are completely individualistic to any other plant. Among these two strategies, the seedlings need more moisture for germination and early survival. This is due to the sprouts being connected to already healthy and associated plants while the new seedlings will start anew.
Artemisia tridentata, commonly called big sagebrush, Great Basin sagebrush or (locally) simply sagebrush, is an aromatic shrub from the family Asteraceae, which grows in arid and semi-arid conditions, throughout a range of cold desert, steppe, and mountain habitats in the Intermountain West of North America.
Winward AH, 1970. Taxonomic and ecological relationships of the big sagebrush complex in Idaho. Moscow, USA: University of Idaho.
Johnson KL, 1979. Basic synecological relationships of the sagebrush types on the high plains of Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas. In: The Sagebrush Ecosystem: A Symposium, Logan, USA: Utah State University Press. 42-49.
Growth Characteristics: An erect, highly branched shrub with a rounded crown, growing 1 to 16 feet tall. Trunk is short. Flowers August to September and reproduces from seed.
Occurs in valleys, basins, and mountain slopes, at elevations between 2,500 and 10,000 feet.
Big Sagebrush is good forage for sheep and wildlife on winter ranges. It is poor forage for cattle. It is high in protein, but also high in volatile oils, which may cause rumen stasis. It is a food source and provides cover for many types of wildlife. It is essential to sage grouse, which prefer the short forms, for feed and cover.
Artemisia tridentata ("big sagebrush") Leaves and flowers of Artemisia tridentata. Artemisia pygmaea. Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus Artemisia .
Many of these species are known by more than one common name, and some common names represent more than one species. Alpine sagebrush— Artemisia scopulorum [ vi] African sagebrush— Artemisia afra. Basin sagebrush — Artemisia tridentata. Big sagebrush—see Basin sagebrush. Bigelow sagebrush— Artemisia bigelovii.
The best known sagebrush is the shrub Artemisia tridentata. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west.
It grows throughout Colorado National Monument. Did you know: the big sagebrush is named for its pungent odor, which resembles that of the common sage. Although this shrub may smell quite good to humans, it is likely that the volatile oils responsible for the sagebrush's pleasing fragrance actually serve to deter herbivores.
Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Description: grows 1-2 m tall with a trunk diameter of 3 inches, though individuals near good water sources may grow as tall as 3 m. Hairy, silvery green leaves are 1-4 cm long and wedge-shaped, with the wider end divided into three lobes.
Range: occurs throughout the western United States from California to Nebraska, south into Mexico, and north into Canada. It grows throughout Colorado National Monument.
Artemisia tridentata, commonly called big sagebrush, Great Basin sagebrush or (locally) simply sagebrush, is an aromatic shrub from the family Asteraceae, which grows in arid and semi-arid conditions, throughout a range of cold desert, steppe, and mountain habitats in the Intermountain West of North America. The vernacular name "sagebrush" is also used for several related members of the g…
Big sagebrush is a coarse, many-branched, pale-grey shrub with yellow flowers and silvery-grey foliage, which is generally 0.5–3 metres (1+1⁄2–10 feet) tall. A deep taproot 1–4 m (3+1⁄2–13 ft) in length, coupled with laterally spreading roots near the surface, allows sagebrush to gather water from both surface precipitation and the water table several meters beneath. Big sagebrush that i…
Much discussion and disagreement revolves around the question of how to divide the species into varieties and subgenera. The following subspecies are accepted by some authors, though others advocate different systems.
• A. tridentata subsp. tridentata ("basin big sagebrush")
• A. tridentata subsp. vaseyana ("mountain big sagebrush")
Artemisia tridentata grows in arid and semi-arid conditions, throughout the Intermountain West of North America. Sagebrush is not a desert plant, but rather a resident of the steppe, in areas that receive 18–40 centimeters (7–15+1⁄2 in) of annual precipitation. Big sagebrush and other Artemisia species are the dominant plants across large portions of the Great Basin, covering some 422,0…
The plant's oils are toxic to the liver and digestive system of humans if taken internally, so care must be taken during any form of internal use. Generally, toxic symptoms will subside 24–48 hours after ingesting the plant.
The Cahuilla used to gather large quantities of sagebrush seed and grind it to make flour. The main modern use is as firewood, with the wood's oils being particularly flammable.
The plant's active medicinal constituents include camphor, terpenoids, and tannins.
A. tridentata is the state flower of Nevada.
• Great Basin Desert
• Medicinal plants of the American West