White Sagebrush

Artemisia ludoviciana

White Sagebrush (Artemisia ludoviciana) is a native perennial of the sunflower family, a silvery-white, woolly, strongly scented plant that spreads by underground runners into loose patches. Its tiny greenish-yellow flower heads open from August into September on prairies, roadsides and open pine woods, and it is listed at Jewel Cave, Wind Cave, Mount Rushmore and Devils Tower in the Black Hills.

Free photos from other sources

White Sagebrush: Silvery flowering spike rising from a prairie patch — Artemisia ludoviciana. Aaron Rasor, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized. Get it at the source

White Sagebrush: Close-up of the tiny woolly, yellowish flower heads — Artemisia ludoviciana. Jason Leduc, CC0 1.0. Get it at the source

White Sagebrush: Broad, felted silver leaves — Artemisia ludoviciana. Jane Weeden, CC BY 4.0, resized. Get it at the source

White Sagebrush: Whole clump of upright white stems in fall — Artemisia ludoviciana. lejones417, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized. Get it at the source

White Sagebrush: Silver patch spreading through prairie grasses — Artemisia ludoviciana. Aaron Rasor, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized. Get it at the source

White Sagebrush: Leafy stems with a few lobed leaves — Artemisia ludoviciana. Jason Leduc, CC0 1.0. Get it at the source

Quick facts
Family	Asteraceae · Aster
Status	Native perennial
Blooms	August into September, with heads lingering into October
Height	30–100 cm (12–39 in)
Where	Prairies, meadows, roadsides, open pine woods and rocky slopes, foothills to high ridges
Also called	Prairie Sage, White Sage, Cudweed Sagewort, Louisiana Sagewort, Silver Wormwood, Western Mugwort, Man Sage, pȟeží hóta wápe blaskáska (Lakota)
Synonym	Artemisia gnaphalodes, Artemisia purshiana, Artemisia ludoviciana var. gnaphalodes, Artemisia ludoviciana var. latifolia
Toxicity	The USDA plant guide says it contains thujone, which is toxic in large doses.
Traditional use	Sitting Bull College’s 1998 Culturally Important Plants of the Lakota says the leaves and stems were burned for smudging, to purify oneself; the plant was made into wreaths and bracelets for Sun Dancers; and a tea was taken for stomach trouble, colds and sore throat. The USDA plant guide adds that it was perhaps the most important ceremonial plant of the Cheyenne.
Note	This is the sage burned for smudging. It isn’t kitchen sage or California White Sage, which are both Salvia, in the mint family.

Roots, seeds & germination

Root: Creeping rhizomes, mostly in the top 2.5–14 cm (1–5½ in) of soil, with coarse roots reaching about 70 cm (27 in). The rhizomes let one plant form a clump 2–3 m (6½–10 ft) across.

Seed: A tiny, smooth, dry achene with no fluffy parachute. Seed ripens and turns brown from early October into early November and is shed by wind, gravity and water through early winter.

Germination: Sources differ: SDSU and a University of Washington protocol call for fall sowing or 60–90 days of cold, moist stratification, while Prairie Moon gives about 30 days. The very small seed is sown on the surface, and plants are also easily started by dividing the rhizomes.

How do you identify White Sagebrush?

The whole plant, stems and both sides of the leaves, is silvery white to gray-green with a dense felt of matted hairs, and a crushed leaf smells strongly of sagebrush. Upright stems rise in loose patches from creeping rhizomes, not from a woody base. The leaves alternate up the stem and are narrow, lance-shaped, 3–11 cm (1¼–4½ in) long, mostly smooth-edged, with the lower ones sometimes toothed or with a few lobes near the tip. Tiny nodding, button-like heads without petals crowd a narrow, spike-like cluster at the top. Fringed Sage is just as silvery and fragrant but low, 10–40 cm, growing in tufted mats from a woody base, with small leaves finely cut into thread-like segments.

When does it bloom?

August into September, with heads lingering into October.

Where does it grow?

Dry to moderately moist, sunny ground: mixed-grass prairie, meadows, roadsides and other disturbed ground, open ponderosa pine woods, rocky slopes and stream terraces, on sand, loam, clay or gravel. In the Black Hills it runs from the foothills up to the high ridges. About 170 herbarium specimens since 1892 come from all seven Black Hills counties, including Custer State Park and Devils Tower, the 1986 Jewel Cave survey lists it, and the species lists for Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Mount Rushmore and Devils Tower include it.