BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Artemisia pygmaea | Pygmy Sagebrush 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Pygmy sagebrush is a dwarf, depressed, perennial cushionlike evergreen
shrub or half-shrub which grows up to 8 inches (2 dm) in height [1,13].
Both diploid and tetraploid forms occur [13].

This desert species exhibits numerous morphological adaptations which
enable it to survive on extremely xeric sites.  Leaves are green,
glabrous, and pinnately divided into 3 to 11 lobes [22].  The numerous
stomates are sunken, and water vessels are extremely narrow which
facilitates water conservation [17].  The bark of older branches is
brown and fibrous, whereas younger branches are straw-colored and
puberulent [22].  Heads made up of three- to five-toothed disk flowers
are arranged in a spikelike inflorescence [1,13].  Ray flowers are
lacking [13].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Chamaephyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Pygmy sagebrush regenerates readily from seed which matures in October
[13].  Seed is large for the genus Artemisia and averages 440,000 per lb
(970 per g) [13].  Pygmy sagebrush generally spreads well from naturally
dispersed seed, although artificial seeding has to date been largely
unsuccessful [13].

Pygmy sagebrush does not resprout after fire or other disturbance
[1,21].  It does, however, establish readily when individual plants are
divided and transplanted [13].

Information on seed dispersal mechanisms, germination, and establishment
is lacking.  Beetle [1] noted that seedlings of pygmy sagebrush are
"unknown."


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Widely disjunct populations of pygmy sagebrush grow on calcareous desert
soils of the Great Basin and Uinta Basin [1,12].  Pygmy sagebrush occurs
on shale barrens at lower elevations [18] and has also been reported on
white gypsum outcrops in the Great Basin of Nevada [4].

It grows in pinyon-juniper communities of Utah [8] and at more mesic
sites in the salt desert shrub zone with black sagebrush and budsage
[23].  In Nevada it is most often associated with the halophytic
threadleaf rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus ssp. consimilis)
and in Utah has been reported to occur in large stands with black
sagebrush [13].  Pygmy sagebrush often grows in association with other
cushion-formers [22], many of which are rare or narrowly endemic [8].
It typically occurs extremely xeric sites [17].  Growth on sandy loam,
loam, and clay loam is described as "good" [14].  Pygmy sagebrush also
grows well on alkaline soils [14].  Optimum soil depth is 10 to 20 inches
(25-51 cm) [5].

Pygmy sagebrush grows from 4,000 to 6,000 feet (1,220-1,830 m)
throughout its range [10].  It ocurs from 5,300 to 6,000 feet
(1,617-1,830 m) in Utah [8].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Pygmy sagebrush flowers during August and September.  Seed matures
in October [13].

Related categories for Species: Artemisia pygmaea | Pygmy Sagebrush