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Purshia tridentata

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Bitterbrush
Purshia tridentata, Wenas Wildlife Area
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Purshia
Species:
P. tridentata
Binomial name
Purshia tridentata
Synonyms[1]
  • Tigarea tridentata Pursh

Purshia tridentata, with the common name bitterbrush,[1][2][3] is a shrub in the genus Purshia of the family Rosaceae. It is native to mountainous areas of western North America.[3]

Common names include antelope bitterbrush,[3][2] antelope bush,[2] buckbrush, quinine brush, and less commonly deerbrush, blackbrush, and greasewood.[4] Some of these names are shared with other species.

Description

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Purshia tridentata is a deciduous shrub growing to a height of 1–5 metres (3 1⁄2–16 1⁄2 feet). It has many branches and slender green,[5] three- to five-lobed leaves 5–20 millimetres long. It is a nitrogen-fixing plant.[6]

The flowers are pale yellow,[5] with five petals 6–8 mm long, and darker yellow anthers. The fruit is a cluster of dry, slender, leathery achenes 0.6–2 centimetres long.

  • The yellow flowers have five petals and darker yellow anthers.
    The yellow flowers have five petals and darker yellow anthers.
  • Purshia tridentata var. glandulosa on dry slope
    Purshia tridentata var. glandulosa on dry slope

Varieties

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There are two named varieties of the species:

Distribution

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The plant is found from southeastern British Columbia in the north, east to Montana and Wyoming, south to New Mexico, and west in California.[3] It grows on arid mountainsides and slopes, as well as rocky or drained soils with somewhat more moisture than the sagebrush steppe.[5] It is often associated with Balsamorhiza as well as Wyethia species, and in southern areas hybridizes with Purshia stansburyana.[5]

In California it occurs between 700–3,400 m (2,300–11,200 ft) above sea level, including in the Peninsular Ranges, Transverse Ranges, and Sierra Nevada, and southern Cascade Range.[2][9] Further north it occurs at lower elevations, such as at 320–1,065 m (1,050–3,494 ft) in British Columbia.[10]

Uses

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The shrub is an important forage plant for many game animals, including deer,[5] especially during the winter.[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b James Henrickson, "Purshia tridentata (Pursh) de Candolle, Trans. Linn. Soc. London. 12: 158. 1818", Flora of North America, vol. 9
  2. ^ a b c d CalFlora Database:Purshia tridentata . accessed 9.22.2013
  3. ^ a b c d NRCS. "Purshia tridentata". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  4. ^ United States Congressional serial set. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1861.
  5. ^ a b c d e Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 126. ISBN 0-87842-280-3. OCLC 25708726.
  6. ^ David Andrews Dalton (1975). Nitrogen fixation by Purshia tridentata: some ecological aspects and root nodule anatomy. Oregon State University. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  7. ^ CalFlora Database: Purshia tridentata var. glandulosa
  8. ^ CalFlora Database: Purshia tridentata var. tridentata
  9. ^ Brian Vanden Heuvel & Thomas J. Rosatti 2016. Purshia tridentata, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, accessed 19 June 2016
  10. ^ E-FLORA BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia
  11. ^ Whitney, Stephen (1985). Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides). New York: Knopf. p. 401. ISBN 0-394-73127-1.
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