Sorting out Sagebrush

There are numerous species of sagebrush (Artemesia sp.). They're not always easily identifiable in the field, but communities of different sagebrush species have different levels of productivity, may support different wildlife species, and respond to fire differently. So it's important for us to know which is which. A number of keys exist to assist us.


our botanist, Martin, settles down with a sagebrush and a selection of keys
Interestingly, when the leaves of different species are put into water and viewed with a UV light, they fluoresce differently. Not practical in the field, but it allows us to test our field IDs back in the office. Although sitting in a dark office lighting up tubes of sagebrush leaves does make other coworkers wonder...

The photo didn't come out as well as I hoped, but you can see that the left two tubes are fluorescing, and the rightmost isn't. Second from the right did fluoresce slightly.

from left to right: Artemesia tridentata vaseyana (mountain big sagebrush), Artemesia arbuscula (low sagebrush), Artemesia tridentata wyomingensis (Wyoming big sagebrush), Artemesia tridentata tridentata (basin big sagebrush)
Rosentreter, R. 2005. Sagebrush Identification, Ecology, and Palatability Relative to Sage-grouse. USDA Forest Service Preceedings RMRS-P-38. (pdf, external link)