Artemisia tridentata ("big sagebrush" or "sagebrush") is an aromatic shrub from the family Asteraceae, which grows in arid and semi-arid conditions, throughout a range of cold desert, steppe, and mountain habitats in the Intermountain West of North America. The vernacular name "sagebrush" is also used for several related members of the genus Artemisia, such as California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica).
Big Sagebrush and other Artemisia species are the dominant plants across large portions of the Great Basin, covering some 422,000 square miles in 11 western U.S. & Canadian states. Sagebrush provides food and habitat for a variety of species, such as sage grouse, pronghorn antelope, gray vireo, pygmy rabbit, and mule deer.
Big sagebrush was used as an herbal medicine by Native Americans throughout the Intermountain West of North America—especially for preventing infection in wounds, stopping internal bleeding, and treating headaches and colds. Chemically, the active medicinal constituents include camphor, terpenoids, and tannins.
Several major threats exist to sage brush ecosystems, including human settlements, conversion to agricultural land, livestock grazing, invasive plant species, wildfires, and climate change.
Read more about Artemisia Tridentata: Taxonomy, Description, Ecology, Medicinal Use and Toxicity