Big Sagebrush
Artemisia tridentata · Asteraceae
- Form
- Shrub
- Height
- 2–8 ft
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Water
- Very Low
- Habitat
- Sagebrush Scrub
🌿 California native
Quick facts
- Habitat: Sagebrush Scrub — the dominant shrub of the high desert east of the Sierra
- Form / size: Aromatic grey shrub, 2–8 ft
- Sun: Full sun · Water: Very low
- The smell: crush a leaf — this is the scent of the Great Basin
Description
The defining shrub of the Eastern Sierra and Mono Basin — silvery, aromatic grey-green leaves tipped with three small teeth (tridentata), on shreddy-barked stems, releasing the unmistakable sweet-bitter “sagebrush after rain” smell. (It’s a true sagebrush — Artemisia — not a culinary sage.) Tiny yellowish flowers in late summer are wind-pollinated and easy to miss. Forms the vast silver seas along US-395.
Wildlife & pollinators
A keystone of the sage ecosystem — essential cover and browse for sage-grouse, mule deer, pronghorn, and many songbirds and small mammals.
Habitat & range
Sagebrush Scrub across the Great Basin, the east side of the Sierra (Mammoth, June Lake, Mono), and high-desert flats around Big Bear.
In the garden
A fragrant, bombproof grey accent for hot, dry, cold-winter gardens. Full sun, very low water, sharp drainage.
Propagation
From seed (tiny; surface-sow on the rains) or semi-hardwood cuttings.
Where to see it near you
- iNaturalist — observed across California (map)
- The Eastern Sierra and high desert around Big Bear.
Sources
Commonly confused with
Antelope Bitterbrush 🌿 Purshia tridentata grows right alongside it with similarly 3-toothed leaves, but bitterbrush is greener, not strongly aromatic, and has small yellow rose-family flowers; sagebrush is silvery, intensely aromatic, with inconspicuous flowers. 
