Northern Nevada backyards and gardens: Rabbitbrush among Nevada’s fall gold
Lately, along roads and up the hillsides, we saw shrubs with brilliant golden yellow flowers. Their color has been dazzling. These showy plants are common rabbitbrush, Chrysothamnus nauseosus or Ericameria nauseosa, also called rubber rabbitbrush due to the rubbery latex in their stems.
I was surprised to see the rabbitbrush blooming so brightly for so long. They generally start blooming in August and usually ended their vivid display mid- to late-September. The US Forest Service reports that they bloom from August to October. Perhaps the recent rains and the warm temperatures with no freezes optimized the bloom time.
For ranchers, a prevalence of rabbitbrush on the range generally indicates overgrazing. Some people think of these plants as undesirables and want to get rid of them. Yet they thrive in poor alkaline soils, in disturbed areas, along fences or in waste areas adding brilliant color to difficult sites. They are often the first plants to repopulate a less than healthy site because their light windblown seeds travel so easily. They resprout readily after fire, sprouting and thriving before sagebrush and bitterbrush begin to reestablish. You may have noticed the bushes are often bigger along the roadways than up the hills. This is the result of the extra runoff that collects along the edges of the roads and shoulders.
Rabbitbrush can reach six feet to seven feet in height, although they average around two feet to three feet tall. They have extensive deep roots, able to reach water far down in the soil. Their threadlike leaves are whitish gray. In the Aster family, their flowers grow in rounded clusters of vibrant yellow.
The species name nauseosus (nauseating) relates to the smell of broken stems or crushed leaves, which some say smells rubbery and foul, while others say it smells like pineapple. Many people find that rabbitbrush is one of the worst plants for allergies. I had people call me at Cooperative Extension to find out when they bloom because their doctor told them to stay away from Nevada during that time. Even so, because of their hardiness, rabbitbrush can work well in a desert landscape as an ornamental. However, be sure that you, your family and your neighbors are not allergic before planting.
Bees and other pollinators love the flowers’ pollen. These plants are important browse for antelope and mule deer during the fall and winter. Birds and small mammals eat the leaves and flower parts. Great Basin Indians used it as a medicinal tea for colds and stomach problems. They also used the flowers for a dye.
How lovely Nevada’s fall gold is.
— JoAnne Skelly is Associate Professor & Extension Educator, Emerita, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at skellyj@unr.edu.