Artemisia pygmaea

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Artemisia pygmaea
Artemisia pygmaea.jpg
Status TNC G4.svg
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Artemisia
Species:
A. pygmaea
Binomial name
Artemisia pygmaea
Synonyms [1]
  • Seriphidium pygmaeum(A. Gray) W.A. Weber

Artemisia pygmaea is a North American species of sagebrush in the aster family known by the common name pygmy sagebrush. [2]

Contents

Description

Artemisia pygmaea is a small, cushion-like shrub growing up to about 20 centimeters (8 inches) in height. It is woody and grows from a taproot. [2]

The small leaves are under a centimeter long and wide and are toothed or divided into several deep lobes. [2]

The flower heads contain 3 to 5 disc florets but no ray florets. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers occurring on separate individual plants. [3] Blooming occurs in August and September. [4] [2]

This is one of several plants parasitized by the parasitic plant Orobanche fasciculata . [5]

Distribution and habitat

Artemisia pygmaea is native to regions of the Southwestern United States, encompassing parts of Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. [6] It is uncommon throughout much of its range but it can be locally abundant. [3] [2]

Artemisia pygmaea grows in very dry habitat types. It occurs in the desert grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and playas of the American southwest, especially in the Great Basin and Uinta Basin. It favors calcareous soils such as gypsum, and alkali soils, salty soils, and clay. It tolerates substrates in which few other plants will grow. Its small size is an adaptation to its dry habitat. [3] [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Artemisia</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae

Artemisia is a large, diverse genus of plants belonging to the daisy family Asteraceae, with between 200 and 400 species. Common names for various species in the genus include mugwort, wormwood, and sagebrush.

<i>Artemisia tridentata</i> Species of plant

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 genus Artemisia, such as California sagebrush.

<i>Artemisia californica</i> Species of plant

Artemisia californica, also known as California sagebrush, is a species of western North American shrub in the sunflower family.

<i>Artemisia arbuscula</i> Species of flowering plant

Artemisia arbuscula is a North American species of sagebrush known by the common names little sagebrush, low sagebrush, or black sagebrush. It is native to the western United States from Washington, Oregon, and California east as far as Colorado and Wyoming. It grows in open, exposed habitat on dry, sterile soils high in rock and clay content.

<i>Artemisia bigelovii</i> Species of flowering plant

Artemisia bigelovii is a North American species of sagebrush known by the common name Bigelow sagebrush or flat sagebrush. It grows in the deserts of the southwestern United States.

<i>Artemisia nova</i> Species of flowering plant

Artemisia nova is a North American species of sagebrush, known by the common name black sagebrush. It is "one of the most common shrubs in the western United States".

<i>Artemisia rothrockii</i> Species of flowering plant

Artemisia rothrockii is a North American species of sagebrush known by the common names timberline sagebrush and Rothrock's sagebrush.

<i>Artemisia spinescens</i> Species of flowering plant

Artemisia spinescens is a North American species of sagebrush in the sunflower family, known by the common name budsage.

Crepis pleurocarpa is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name nakedstem hawksbeard. It is native to the western United States (Washington, Oregon, northern California and western Nevada.

<i>Orobanche californica</i> Species of flowering plant

Orobanche californica, known by the common name California broomrape, is a species of broomrape. It is a parasitic plant growing attached to the roots of other plants, usually members of the Asteraceae.

<i>Orobanche fasciculata</i> Species of flowering plant

Orobanche fasciculata is a species of broomrape known by the common name clustered broomrape. It is native to much of western and central North America from Alaska to northern Mexico to the Great Lakes region, where it grows in many types of habitat. It is a parasite growing attached to the roots of other plants, usually members of the Asteraceae such as Artemisia; and other genera such as Eriodictyon and Eriogonum. This plant produces one or more stems from a bulbous root, growing erect to a maximum of about 20 centimeters in height. The stems, leaves and five-lobed flowers are covered by sticky hairs. As a parasite taking its nutrients from a host plant, it lacks chlorophyll as well as a water-storage system. It is variable in color, often yellowish or purple. The inflorescence is a raceme of up to 20 flowers, each on a pedicel up to 15 centimetres long. Each flower has a calyx of hairy triangular sepals and a tubular corolla 1.5–3 cm long. The flower is yellowish or purplish in color.

<i>Nestotus stenophyllus</i> Species of flowering plant

Nestotus stenophyllus is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name narrowleaf mock goldenweed. It was previously known as Stenotus stenophyllus. It is native to the western United States, especially the inland Pacific Northwest and northern Great Basin, where it grows in sagebrush habitat usually in rocky soil.

<i>Schoenocrambe argillacea</i>

Schoenocrambe argillacea is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names clay reed-mustard, Uinta Basin plainsmustard, and clay thelypody.

<i>Sclerocactus glaucus</i> Species of cactus

Sclerocactus glaucus is a rare species of cactus known by the common name Colorado hookless cactus. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it is known only from the area between Grand Junction and Montrose. It is a federally listed threatened species.

<i>Artemisia papposa</i> Species of flowering plant

Artemisia papposa is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names Owyhee sage, Owyhee sagebrush, and fuzzy sagebrush. It is native to the Snake River Plain and surrounding areas in the northwestern United States, occurring in southern Idaho, eastern Oregon, and northern Nevada.

<i>Artemisia filifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Artemisia filifolia, known by common names including sand sagebrush, sand sage and sandhill sage, is a species of flowering plant in the aster family. It is native to North America, where it occurs from Nevada east to South Dakota and from there south to Arizona, Chihuahua, and Texas.

<i>Artemisia frigida</i> Species of flowering plant

Artemisia frigida is a widespread species of flowering plant in the aster family, which is known as the sunflower family. It is native to Europe, Asia, and much of North America. In parts of the north-central and northeastern United States it is an introduced species.

<i>Artemisia pedatifida</i> Species of flowering plant

Artemisia pedatifida is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names birdfoot sagebrush and matted sagewort. It is native to a section of the west-central United States encompassing parts of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, where it occurs on the high plains.

<i>Artemisia rigida</i> Species of flowering plant

Artemisia rigida is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names scabland sagebrush and stiff sagebrush. It is native to the northwestern United States, in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. It has been recorded in western Montana but these sightings may have been misidentifications.

<i>Cirsium perplexans</i> Species of thistle

Cirsium perplexans is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Rocky Mountain thistle and Adobe Hills thistle. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it occurs in the Colorado and Gunnison River Valleys in the Rocky Mountains.

References

  1. The Plant List Artemisia pygmaea A.Gray
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Artemisia pygmaea in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org.
  3. 1 2 3 Ulev, Elena D. 2005. Artemisia pygmaea. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
  4. Artemisia pygmaea. USDA FS International Institute of Tropical Forestry.
  5. Brotherson, J. D., et al. (2005). Nutrient relationships between Orobanche fasciculata Nutt. and its host Artemisia pygmaea Gray in the Uinta Basin of Utah. Western North American Naturalist 65(2) 242-47.
  6. Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  7. Gray, Asa. 1886. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 21(2): 413