Selected Plants of Navajo Rangelands

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

Snakeweed
Ch’il Diilyésii dzaa
(a.k.a. broom snakeweed)

Narrow, widely spaced yellow rays and darker yellow disk flowers
Patrick Alexander

Snakeweed is a woody subshrub with numerous erect ascending branches. It has small, evergreen, linear leaves and tufts of tiny yellow flowers in fall. Though snakeweed was once considered a weed of overgrazed rangelands, some research suggests that its population cycles over time are more related to precipitation patterns than to overgrazing.

Broom snakeweed provides little value to livestock and can be toxic, causing illness, death, or abortion in sheep, goats, and cattle during winter and early spring when it is the only thing green and may be consumed in large quantities.

Flower cluster with multiple small branches
Patrick Alexander
Growth habits, which looks almost like a small shrub due to the many branched stems
Patrick Alexander
Growth habit and glimpse of rocky brushland habitat
Patrick Alexander
Branching habit with multiple stems topped by flower clusters; leaves are narrow, arranged sparsely on stems
Patrick Alexander
Close-up of flowers showing disk flowers with protruding styles and stigmas
Patrick Alexander
Close-up of dusky green linear leaf
Patrick Alexander
Growth habit with multiple branched stems
Patrick Alexander
Scientific Name
Gutierrezia sarothrae
Plant Type
Brush
Growing Season
Year Round
Habitat
Brushlands
Flower Colors
  • Yellow
  • Green
⚠
Potentially toxic to livestock
For definitions, see the glossary.

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