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Ericameria nauseosa
Also called Rabbitbrush, Stinking Rabbitbrush, Chamisa
Rubber rabbitbrush is a drought-tolerant shrub from the arid western North American deserts, valued in xeriscaping for its late-season yellow blooms. Give it full sun and very well-drained, alkaline soil, and avoid overwatering.
Ericameria nauseosa (formerly Chrysothamnus nauseosus), commonly known as chamisa, rubber rabbitbrush, and gray rabbitbrush, is a shrub in the sunflower family (Aster) found in the arid regions of western North America.
Two subspecies have been described, consimilis (the green form with 8 varieties) and nauseosa (the gray form with 14 varieties).
Rabbitbrush, Ericameria nauseosa, has gained popularity as an ornamental xeriscaping shrub in areas where water conservation is important. It thrives in a wide range of coarse, alkaline soils that are common to desert environments. Pruning the shrub back to several inches in early spring, before new growth begins, may help improve the shrub's ornamental value. The varieties Ericameria nauseosa var. nauseosa and Ericameria nauseosa var. speciosa are especially valued as they rarely exceed 24 inches and will often only reach a foot in height. Gardeners appreciate the enthusiastic late season blooms as well as the foliage.
It grows in the arid regions of western Canada, western United States (from the western Great Plains to the Pacific) and northern Mexico.
The Zuni people use the blossoms bigelovii variety of the nauseosa subspecies to make a yellow dye. They use the stems to make baskets. The Navajo also made a yellow dye from some of the flower heads. Native Americans of the southwest would also cook the leaves of the plant with cornmeal to raise the bread.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ericameria nauseosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
