Plant Data Sheet
Species
(common name, Latin name):
Big Sagebrush, Artemisia tridentata,
Nutt.
Range
Occurs from
Climate,
elevation
Occurs in semiarid
climatic regimes in desert and semi-desert conditions. Basin big sagebrush (A. t. ssp. tridentata) grows on sites with deep, well-drained
soils and average precipitation between 10-18 inches per year (occurring mainly
in the fall and winter months). The other big sagebrush subspecies (A. t. ssp. spiciformis, A. t. ssp. vaseyana, A. t. ssp. wyomingensis, A. t. ssp. xericensis)
tend to occur on more xeric sites.
Elevation
ranges are variable: 4,800-5,800 feet (1463-1768 m) in Arizona, 100-7,000 feet
(30-2134 m) in Oregon, 2,001-7,019 feet (610-2140 m) in northeastern Utah.
(FEIS database)
Local
occurrence (where, how common)
Locally,
sagebrush occurs as a dominant shrub in eastern Washington shrub-steppe and dry
Ponderosa pine savannas. (Franklin and Dyrness 1973)
Habitat
preferences
Prefers deep
well-drained soils; locally occurs throughout the dry interior of eastern
Washington; dominates the Columbia Basin shrub-steppe zone.
(Franklin and Dyrness 1973)
Plant
strategy type/successional stage (stress-tolerator, competitor, weedy/colonizer, seral,
late successional)
Prolific
colonizer following disturbances; considered a topographic and edaphic climax dominant species over most of its range. (Franklin
and Dyrness 1973, FEIS database)
Associated
species
Common associates are
Pinus ponderosa, Artemisia
tripartita, Agropyron spicatum, Festuca idahoensis, Elymus cinereus, Stipa thurberiana, Purshia tridentata, Phlox longifolia, Balsamorhiza careyana, Lithophragma bulbifera, Lomatium spp. and Microseris troximoides. (Franklin
and Dyrness 1973)
May
be collected as: (seed, layered, divisions, etc.)
May
be propagated by seed in the spring and by cuttings taken in late summer through
winter.
Collection
restrictions or guidelines
Seed
production occurs from October to December and most seed is shed in the fall,
although some may remain on the plant through the winter. Seeds may germinate
in fall and winter in the southern part of big sagebrush’s range; however, most
seeds germinate in the spring as early as April. (FEIS
database)
Sagebrush
seeds are collected by beating or stripping them into shoulder hoppers,
baskets, or bags. (Woody Plant Seed
Manual)
Seed
germination (needs dormancy breaking?)
Dormancy
depends on ecotype of collected seeds; individuals from southwestern locations
tend to be germinable immediately while northern
individuals tend to have a cold stratification or light requirement for
germination. Dormancy can be broken by a
short (2-week) period of moist, cold stratification and, in many cases, through
after-ripening that occurs during storage. (Woody Plant Seed Manual)
Seed
life (can be stored, short shelf-life, long shelf-life)
Big sagebrush seeds
have been determined to be relatively short-lived, remaining viable less than 5
years in warehouse storage. Storing with a
low moisture content (6 to 8% is optimal) and at relatively low temperatures
(<10 °C) can extend storage life to 5 years and possibly longer. (Woody
Plant Seed Manual) Most sagebrush
seeds are not viable in the seedbank for more than 1
year. Fire may reduce emergence of big sagebrush (FEIS database).
Recommended
seed storage conditions
Storing
with a low moisture content (6 to 8% is optimal) and at relatively low
temperatures (<10 °C) can extend storage life to 5 years and possibly longer.
(Woody Plant Seed Manual)
Propagation
recommendations (plant seeds, vegetative parts, cuttings, etc.)
May
be direct seeded, grown as bareroot or containerized
material, or propagated by cuttings. Transplants of wild seedlings are also
successful. (Woody Plant Seed Manual)
Cuttings should be
taken in fall or winter, dipped in rooting hormone and placed in sandy
substrate or peat pellets and exposed to bottom heat and top misting. (Alvarez-Cordoza and McKell 1979)
Soil
or medium requirements (inoculum necessary?)
Grow
best in light, well-drained soils. Prefer not to be in alkaline soils.
Installation
form (form, potential for successful outcomes, cost)
Easily
established by direct seeding in late fall or onto snow in winter or by transplanting
wild seedlings in the spring. May also be installed in the spring as
containerized or bareroot nursery grown material. Containerized material requires careful
hardening before transplantation. (Woody Plant Seed Manual)
Recommended
planting density
3’ centers.
For
direct seeding Meyer recommends a seeding “rate of 0.1 to 0.2 kg/ha (1.5 to 3
oz/ac) on a pure live seed (PLS) basis for a lot that averages 4 million
seeds/kg (113,400/oz)” (Woody Plant
Seed Manual).
Care
requirements after installed (water weekly, water once etc.)
Moisture is often the
limiting factor in establishing sagebrush from seeds; therefore, watering
through the first summer will help ensure the success of direct seeding. (Woody
Plant Seed Manual)
Normal
rate of growth or spread; lifespan
Sagebrush grows
fairly quickly (especially A. t. ssp. tridentata) and is
reproductively mature by age 2 years. (FEIS database)
Sources
cited
Alvarez-Cordero, E. and C. M. McKell. 1979.
Stem cutting propagation of big sagebrush: Artemisia tridentata. Journal of Range Management 32
(2).
FEIS database:
Accessed on 4/20/03, http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/arttrit/index.html
Franklin,
J. F. and C. T. Dyrness. 1973. Natural Vegetation of
Oregon and Washington. Oregon State University Press, Corvallis.
Hitchcock, C. L, and A. Cronquist. 1973.
Flora of the Pacific Northwest, An Illustrated Manual. University of Washington
Press, Seattle.
Meyer, Susan E. Artemisia, L.: Sagebrush. Accessed on 4/20/03 from USDA
Woody Plants Seed Manual: http://wpsm.net
Data
compiled by (student name and date): Anne Andreu, 4/21/03