Big Sage

[redsixwing]

The most interesting-looking Big Sage near my workplace. Artemisia tridentata.

Comments

[spiralsheep]

Psst... link bust.

Alt links:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/redsixwing/27406968466/

https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7494/27406968466_fac0ea1d00_z.jpg

:-)

What size is the plant approximately?

[redsixwing]

Whoops! Fixed, thank you.

Its highest point is about 6ft/2m off the ground. It's taller than I am. :D

[spiralsheep]

That's impressive growth in a dry-ish climate. I suppose it must be relatively woody-stemmed and slow growing? And it must have a strongish smell but is it pleasant or unpleasant?

[redsixwing]

It really is. We're high desert, here - yes we get lovely green grass (but it'll be brown in a month or less) but we also get blazing sun, weeks of no rain at all, and then in winter, deep snow and killing cold.

So yeah - the native plants are mostly slow growers, and this is no exception.

I don't know how old it is. Given the branch thickness and the way it's bowed under snow pressure, I suspect it's older than I am too. They're quite woody, yes - they tend to shreddy, interesting bark, and twisty forms. It's pretty common to see deadwood on a sagebrush, with new sprouts coming up around it.

That's part of why I like them. They're real survivors.

It does have a strong smell! I find very pleasant. "Hot sagebrush" always smells like summer, to me, and is second only to sage after rain.

[spiralsheep]

That's fascinating. It's amazing how much even one plant can reveal about the habitat it evolved into.

I wish there was a youtube for scents so I could smell your sagebrush! Although an equivalent of Rickrolling would probably be unpleasant, heh.