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Antelope bitterbrush

Purshia tridentata

Also called Antelope Brush, Bitterbrush, Buck Brush

Antelope bitterbrush
Photo: Walter Siegmund (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0

Antelope bitterbrush is a deciduous, nitrogen-fixing shrub of arid western North American mountains, valued by wildlife and grown in dry, sunny, well-drained sites. It is a species, not a garden cultivar, and is rarely grown as a houseplant.

Family
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply while establishing, then rely on rainfall; it tolerates drought once mature.
Soil
Well-drained, gritty or rocky soil; tolerates poor, alkaline soils.
Temperature
Hardy to cold winters of its native range; protect young plants from severe frost.
How easy
Easy
Native range
W. Canada to W. & WC. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

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

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

Where it grows

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

Other Purshia plants

Desert bitterbrush · Mexican cliffrose · Cliff rose · Bitterbrush

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Purshia tridentata 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.

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