Selected Plants of Navajo Rangelands

Diné bikéyah Chi’l nooséłígíí Bąąhą́ą́nosin
Take care of our Navajo Rangelands

Sagebrush, Bigelow
Ts’ahłibáhí
(a.k.a. Flat sagebrush)

Example brushland habitat showing sagebrushes in situ with grasses and some trees
Patrick Alexander
Example habitat

Bigelow sagebrush is adapted to xeric sites and is one of the most drought-tolerant sagebrushes in North America. It grows in canyons, draws, and on washes, plains, hills, and rimrock on well-drained soilswelll-drained (usually sandy or gravelly); it is common on limestone soils. Its overall elevational range is 3,000 to 8,000 feet.

Bigelow sagebrush provides valuable winter and spring forage for wildlife and livestock and is an important item in the fall diet of pronghorn in northern Arizona. Palatability and nutritional value are high relative to other sagebrush species, because its twigs are less woody, and its leaves less bitter, with a milder odor, than associated sagebrush taxa.

Bigelow sagebrush begins new growth in April. Flowerbuds appear in August, and flowering occurs from August to October. The leaves abscise in winter.

Bigelow sagebrush with tape measure, which show relatively small stature of this dwarf sagebrush
Ken Gishi
Relatively small size of Bigelow sagebrush
Growth habit with upright stems and compact stature
George Miller
Growth habit
Tiny white flowers along stems
George Miller
Flowers
Tiny white flowers along stems
George Miller
Flowers
Scientific Name
Artemisia bigelovii
Plant Type
Brush
Growing Season
Warm Season
Habitats
  • Brushlands
  • Grasslands
Flower Color
Green
✓
Wildlife and livestock forage
For definitions, see the glossary.

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