Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus is an American species of shrub in the family Asteraceae known by the common names yellow rabbitbrush and green rabbitbrush.
Chrysothamnus axillaris D.D.Keck, syn of subsp. axillaris
Chrysothamnus elegans Greene,[1] syn of subsp. lanceolatus
Chrysothamnus lanceolatus Nutt., syn of subsp. lanceolatus
Chrysothamnus marianus Rydb., syn of subsp. puberulus
Chrysothamnus puberulus (D.C.Eaton) Greene, syn of subsp. puberulus
Descriptionedit
Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus grows up to about 150 centimeters (5 feet) in height, with spreading, brittle, pale stem branches. The leaves are up to a few centimeters long and may be thin and thread-like or up to 1 cm wide and oblong. They are glandular, resinous, and sticky.
The inflorescence is a bushy cluster of flower heads, each head 0.5–1 cm long. The flower head is lined with sticky yellow-green phyllaries and contains several yellowish protruding flowers.
The fruit is a hairy achene a few millimeters long with a wispy pappus at the tip.[3]
The species grows in sagebrush and woodland habitat.[3] It grows easily in alkaline and saline soils, and thrives on soils that are rich in calcium.[15] It rapidly establishes in disturbed habitat, including burns, flooded washes, and rockslides, so it is a valuable shrub for revegetating damaged land such as overgrazedrangeland and abandoned mining areas.[15]
Ecologyedit
It is a larval host to the sagebrush checkerspot and it is an important nectar source in the fall.[16] Range animals such as deer and antelope browse the foliage.[17] It often occurs with Ericameria nauseosa.[17]
Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus plants are typically killed by fire, but can resprout with sufficient energy reserves, and their windborn seeds can blow into a burned area and sprout vigorously.[18] The numbers of plants often increase shortly after a fire and can dominate the landscape, but decreases as Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush) recolonizes an area.[18]
^Ngo, le-van; Thi, Van Cuong Pham (1981). "An unusual m-hydroxyacetophenone and three new chromanone derivatives from Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus". Phytochemistry. 20 (3): 485. doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(00)84171-0.
^Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
^The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.
^ abTaylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 144. ISBN 0-87842-280-3. OCLC 25708726.
NPIN−Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus
Flora of Eastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho: Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus
Southwest Colorado Wildflowers
Goldenweeds and Rabbitbrush Found East of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington: Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus ssp. lanceolatus — (green rabbitbrush, lanceleaf rabbitbrush, yellow rabbitbrush)
University of California, Calphotos photo gallery — Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus
Media related to Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus at Wikimedia Commons