Artemisia bigelovii A. Gray

Artemisia bigelovii of the southwestern deserts is easily confused in the field with A. tridentata, even though it is well distinguished ecologically and morphologically. Systematic placement within subg. Tridentatae remains problematic. Presence of "ray" florets (though rare) and vestigial spines on the pollen (R. P. Wodehouse 1935) suggest a relationship with groups ancestral to Tridentatae. The species also has the unusual characteristic of lignified trichomes (L. M. Shultz 1986b). Further research may help to determine proper placement; its affinities may be with members of subg. Artemisia.

Shrubs, 20–40(–60) cm (branched from bases, rounded), mildly aromatic; not root-sprouting. Stems silvery, canescent (bark gray-brown). Leaves persistent, light gray-green; blades narrowly cuneate, 0.5–3 × 0.2–0.5 cm, entire or 3(–5)-lobed (lobes 1.5–2 mm, less than ¹/3 blade lengths, acute), faces silvery canescent. Heads (usually nodding) in arrays 6–25 × 1–4 cm (branches erect, somewhat curved). Involucres globose, 2–3 × 1.5–2.5 mm. Phyllaries (8–15) ovate, canescent or tomentose. Florets: pistillate 0–2 (raylike, laminae to 1 mm); bisexual 1–3; corollas 1–1.5 mm (style branches of ray florets elongate, exsert, epapillate, tips acute; of disc florets, short, truncate, papillate). Cypselae (ellipsoid, 5-ribbed) 0.8–1 mm, glabrous. 2n = 18, 36, 72.

Artemisia petrophila Wooton & Standley; Seriphidium bigelovii (A. Gray) K. Bremer & Humphries

More info for the terms: cover, mesic, seed, xeric

If Bigelow sagebrush does not build a soil seed bank, and establishes primarily
from off-site, wind-dispersed seed like big sagebrush, its rate of postfire
establishment may be similar to that of big sagebrush. Big sagebrush establishes
primarily from off-site seed sources. It requires from 15 to 20 years to regain
prefire cover on mesic sites, and from 50 to 75 years to regain prefire cover on
xeric sites [4,7].

Bigelow sagebrush

flat sagebrush

Bigelow sagebrush is state-ranked G3 in Colorado: either very rare and local throughout its range or found locally (even abundantly in some locations) in a restricted range [8,47].

More info for the terms: cover, perfect, shrub

Bigelow sagebrush is a native woody shrub [19]. Growing from 12 to 16, rarely 24+ inches (30-40, rarely 60+ cm) tall at maturity [1,16,27], it is a dwarf sagebrush [1,2]. Form is rounded with multiple, recurved stems. Bark is shreddy. Leaves are evergreen, from 0.6 to 1 inch (15-25 mm) long and 0.08 to 0.16 inch (2-4 mm) wide [14,19]. The inflorescence is a dense panicle with 2 to 7 flowers per flowerhead [14,27]. Bigelow sagebrush is similar in appearance to short-statured big sagebrush plants, but is primarily distinguished from all other woody sagebrush species by its flowers [18,30]. Bigelow sagebrush is unique among the woody sagebrush species in having 1 to 3 pistillate ray flowers, although ray flowers are lacking on some plants [18,52].  Ray flowers are marginally located, while the inner 1 to 5 disc flowers are perfect and fertile. Bigelow sagebrush fruits are dry, glabrous achenes about 0.04 inch (1 mm) in length [14,27,35].

Stand structure of Bigelow sagebrush communities is poorly described in the literature. Biological soil crust cover is relatively high in Bigelow sagebrush communities compared to other woody sagebrush species [2].

Physiology: Bigelow sagebrush is one of the most drought-tolerant sagebrushes in North America [1,18,35,52].

Bigelow sagebrush has the most southerly distribution of the woody sagebrush taxa, occupying approximately 34,010 square miles (8,810,000 ha) in the arid Southwest [30,35]. Its center of distribution is the 4 corners region of the Colorado Plateau [18,35,59]. From there it extends to northern Arizona, southeastern California, southern Nevada, central Utah,  south-central New Mexico, and the Texas panhandle [14,19,20,21,27,58]. Bigelow sagebrush's distribution is limited in Colorado, where it occurs in the central and south-central part of the state near the Arkansas River valley [15,56]. Plants database provides a distributional map of Bigelow sagebrush.

More info for the terms: fire regime, seed

Fire adaptations: As of this writing (2002), little is known of the fire ecology of Bigelow sagebrush. As a light-tolerant species [40] that reproduces solely from seed [1,52,60], Bigelow sagebrush may be similar to other woody sagebrush taxa, establishing primarily from off-site seed sources after fire. Much research is needed to understand the life history, successional status, and fire ecology of this species.

FIRE REGIMES of Bigelow sagebrush communities are not described in the literature. The following table provides some fire regime intervals for plant communities and ecosystems where Bigelow sagebrush is sometimes an important component of the vegetation. Find further fire regime information for the plant communities in which this species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under "Find FIRE REGIMES".

Community or Ecosystem Dominant Species Fire Return Interval Range (years) basin big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata var. tridentata 12-43 [45] Wyoming big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata var. wyomingensis 10-70 (40**) [54,61] saltbush-greasewood Atriplex confertifolia-Sarcobatus vermiculatus < 35 to < 100 desert grasslands Bouteloua eriopoda and/or Pleuraphis mutica 5-100 plains grasslands Bouteloua spp. < 35 blue grama-buffalo grass Bouteloua gracilis-Buchloe dactyloides < 35 grama-galleta steppe Bouteloua gracilis-Pleuraphis jamesii < 35 to < 100 blackbrush Coleogyne ramosissima < 35 to < 100 wheatgrass plains grasslands Pascopyrum smithii < 35 pinyon-juniper Pinus-Juniperus spp. 39] Colorado pinyon Pinus edulis 10-400+ [11,13,22,39] **mean

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More info for the term: phanerophyte

RAUNKIAER [42] LIFE FORM:
Phanerophyte

More info for the term: xeric

Bigelow sagebrush is adapted to xeric sites  [18]. It grows in canyons, draws, and on washes, plains, hills, and rimrock [16,20,27,58]. Soils are well drained and usually sandy or gravelly [16,18,20,29]. Bigelow sagebrush is common on limestone soils [16,20,37]. Its overall elevational range is 3,000 to 8,000 feet (915-2,400 m) [18]. Elevational range by state is:

AZ 5,000 to 8,000 feet (1,500-2,400 m) [21] CA 4,300 to 6,200 feet (1,300-1,900 m) [16] CO 4,500 to 5,000 feet (1,400-1,500 m) [15] NM 5,000 to 7,500 feet (1,500-2,300 m) [27] NV 3,000-5,200 feet (915-1,600 m) [20] UT 3,200 to 7,005 feet (975-2,135 m) [58]

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

More info for the term: cover

SAF COVER TYPES [10]:




239 Pinyon-juniper

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

More info for the term: shrub

ECOSYSTEMS [12]:




FRES29 Sagebrush

FRES30 Desert shrub

FRES35 Pinyon-juniper

FRES38 Plains grasslands

FRES40 Desert grasslands

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: woodland

KUCHLER [25] PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:




K023 Juniper-pinyon woodland

K038 Great Basin sagebrush

K039 Blackbrush

K040 Saltbush-greasewood

K053 Grama-galleta steppe

K054 Grama-tobosa prairie

K065 Grama-buffalo grass

K069 Bluestem-grama prairie

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This species is known to occur in association with the following Rangeland Cover Types (as classified by the Society for Range Management, SRM):

More info for the terms: cover, shrub, woodland

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES [50]:




212 Blackbush

401 Basin big sagebrush

403 Wyoming big sagebrush

405 Black sagebrush

406 Low sagebrush

408 Other sagebrush types

412 Juniper-pinyon woodland

414 Salt desert shrub

501 Saltbush-greasewood

502 Grama-galleta

504 Juniper-pinyon pine woodland

605 Sandsage prairie

702 Black grama-alkali sacaton

703 Black grama-sideoats grama

704 Blue grama-western wheatgrass

705 Blue grama-galleta

706 Blue grama-sideoats grama

707 Blue grama-sideoats grama-black grama

715 Grama-buffalo grass

Fire kills Bigelow sagebrush [28].

More info for the term: cover

Bigelow sagebrush provides valuable winter and spring forage for wildlife and livestock. Productivity of Bigelow sagebrush communities is rated moderate relative to other sagebrush communities [18].

Bigelow sagebrush was the single most important item in the fall diet of pronghorn in northern Arizona [5].

Palatability/nutritional value: Palatability and nutritional value of Bigelow sagebrush are high relative to other sagebrush species [18,35,48]. Bigelow sagebrush twigs are less woody, and its leaves are less bitter and have a milder odor, than associated sagebrush taxa [26,35]. Near Price, Utah, chemical analysis of  woody sagebrush species showed Bigelow sagebrush was low in 9 volatile compounds compared to 7 associated sagebrush taxa. Bigelow sagebrush, mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana), and gray low sagebrush (A. arbuscula ssp. arbuscula) were the top 3 taxa preferred by mule deer in feeding trials [48]. Palatability of Bigelow sagebrush in Utah is rated as follows [9]:

cattle fair domestic sheep good horses poor pronghorn fair elk poor mule deer fair small mammals fair small nongame birds fair upland game birds good waterfowl poor

Cover value of Bigelow sagebrush is Utah is rated as follows [9]:

pronghorn poor elk poor mule deer poor small mammals fair small nongame birds fair upland game birds fair waterfowl fair

More info for the terms: grassland, shrub, tree

Bigelow sagebrush occurs in Colorado pinyon-oneseed juniper (Pinus
edulis-Juniperus monosperma), singleleaf pinyon (P. monophylla), and desert shrub communities
of the Sonoran, Great Basin, and Mojave deserts [6,17,21,31,35,43,58].
Desert shrub associates include
big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), black sagebrush (A. nova), blackbrush
(Coleogyne ramosissima), saltbush (Atriplex spp.), and
broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae) [20,31,35,37]. Larson and Moir
[26] describe a oneseed juniper/Bigelow sagebrush community type of northern
Arizona that may extend into southern Utah and southwestern Colorado.

Bigelow sagebrush also occurs in transitional desert shrub-desert grassland
communities. Associated species in northern Arizona and New Mexico include big sagebrush,
green rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus), green ephedra (Ephedra
viridis), fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), galleta (Pleuraphis
jamesii), and blue grama (Bouteloua
gracilis) [5,30].
Associates in transitional Great Basin-Great Plains desert shrub-desert grasslands of
northern Arizona include fourwing saltbush, Fremont barberry (Mahonia
fremontii), blue grama, ring muhly (Muhlenbergia torreyana), and
bottlebrush squirreltail (Elymus elymoides) [44]. Jameson and others [17]
provide a vegetation typing of a Bigelow sagebrush-dominated community in northern Arizona.

Bigelow sagebrush-broom snakeweed communities merge into blue grama-buffalo
grass (Buchloe
dactyloides) shortgrass prairie on the eastern edge of Bigelow sagebrush's
distribution [37]. Associates in southeastern Colorado steppes include yucca
soapweed (Yucca glauca),
pale wolfberry (Lycium pallidum), winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata), and
tree cholla (Opuntia imbricata). Common shortgrass associates include blue grama, black grama (B.
eriopoda), western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii), and galleta
[49].

More info for the term: shrub

Shrub

More info for the term: xeric

Controlling Bigelow sagebrush is not generally recommended. Because it occurs on
xeric sites of moderate productivity and little research has been done on the
ability of the community to respond to disturbance, probability of success

cannot be predicted [18].



Bigelow sagebrush is relatively pest free. It
is not attacked by insects and rusts to the extent that other sagebrush species
are [1], but is susceptible to a wilt disease [38].

AZ CA CO NV
NM TX UT

No information

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Bigelow sagebrush begins new growth in April. Flowerbuds appear in August, and flowering occurs from August to October [1,21,35]. The leaves abscise in winter [1].

More info for the term: seed

As of this writing (2002), there are no published studies on Bigelow sagebrush's response to fire. Since Bigelow sagebrush lacks the ability to regenerate vegetatively [1,52,60], postfire establishment must come from seed. Due to its unique taxonomic position [1,23,24,33,36,55], reproductive ecology of Bigelow sagebrush may be somewhat different than other woody sagebrush taxa. Soil seed bank, germination, and other reproductive studies are lacking for Bigelow sagebrush. Research is needed to understand how Bigelow sagebrush establishes after fire.

More info for the terms: adventitious, secondary colonizer, seed, shrub

POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY [51]:
Shrub without adventitious bud/root crown
Secondary colonizer (on-site or off-site seed sources)

More info for the term: seed

Bigelow sagebrush reproduces from seed [1,52,60]. Little is known of the species' reproductive ecology. Further research is needed in this area.

Breeding system: Bigelow sagebrush is polygamomonecious [1,40]. Common garden and molecular genetic studies suggest ecotypic variation exists between Bigelow sagebrush populations [32,34].

Pollination: Pollen is spread by wind [40].

Seed production: No information

Seed dispersal: No information

Seed banking: No information

Germination: No information

Seedling establishment/growth: No information

Asexual regeneration: Bigelow sagebrush does not reproduce asexually [1,52,60].

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS [3]:




6 Upper Basin and Range

7 Lower Basin and Range

11 Southern Rocky Mountains

12 Colorado Plateau

13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont

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More info for the terms: relict, succession

Bigelow sagebrush's place in succession is unclear and requires further study. Limited evidence suggests that it occurs in all stages of succession. It occurs on open sites [40] and may be favored in early successional communities. On the north rim of the Grand Canyon, Bigelow sagebrush occurs on sites with a history of heavy domestic sheep and cattle grazing. It is also a component of relict ungrazed vegetation [46].

More info for the terms: herbaceous, introgression

The scientific name of Bigelow sagebrush is Artemisia bigelovii (Asteraceae)
Gray [14,19,21,27,56].
Taxonomic position
of Bigelow sagebrush within the genus is uncertain. Although woody, it appears
transitional between the woody sagebrushes (section
Tridentatae) and the herbaceous sagebrushes (subgenus Artemisia) [35,57].
It is genetically and morphologically more closely aligned with section
Tridentatae, and is usually  included there
[1,23,24,33,36,55]. There is no evidence of
cross-pollination between Bigelow sagebrush and other woody sagebrush taxa
[1,23]. Bigelow sagebrush and sand sagebrush (A. filifolia), an
herbaceous species, show molecular and cytological evidence of introgression [23].

More info for the term: seed

Bigelow sagebrush is used for range rehabilitation and erosion control [19,31]. It is established from seed, nursery stock, and wilding transplants [35,41].

Artemisia bigelovii A. Gray, in Torr. Pacif. R. R. Rep. 4: 110
1857.
ArUmisia petrophila Wooton & Standley, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: 193. 1913.
A low shrub 2-4 dm. high, with erect branches; leaves canescent on both sides, narrowly cuneate, 3-toothed at the apex, 0.5-3 cm. long, or the upper ones entire and linear; heads many, glomerate in dense panicles; involucre turbinate, 2-2.5 mm. high and as broad, densely tomentose; bracts 12-15, imbricate in 3 series, the outer ovate, thick, half as long as the inner; inner bracts oblong, obtuse; ray-flower 1, sometimes 2, or wanting; corolla 1 mm. long; disk-flowers 2 or 3; corollas 2 mm. long; achenes 1 mm. long.
Type I.OCALITY: Rocks and canyons on the Upper Canadian, Texas. Distribution: Western Texas to (Kansas?) southern Colorado, Utah, and Arizona.

Artemisia bigelovii (lat. Artemisia bigelovii) - mürəkkəbçiçəklilər fəsiləsinin yovşan cinsinə aid bitki növü.

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.

Artemisia bigelovii, es una especie de arbusto del género Artemisia, se distribuye por los Estados Unidos:

Detalle de las hojas En su hábitat

Artemisia bigelovii là một loài thực vật có hoa trong họ Cúc. Loài này được A.Gray mô tả khoa học đầu tiên năm 1857.