What is "artemisia tridentata"

Sagebrush \Sage"brush`\, n. A low irregular shrub ( Artemisia tridentata), of the order Composit[ae], covering vast tracts of the dry alkaline regions of the American plains; -- called also sagebush, and wild sage.

Artemisia \Ar`te*mi"si*a\ ([aum]rt[-e]"m[i^]zh"[i^]*[.a] or [aum]rt[-e]"m[i^]sh"[i^]*[.a]), n. [L. Artemisia, Gr. 'Artemisi`a.] (Bot.) A genus of plants including the plants called mugwort, southernwood, and wormwood. Of these Artemisia absinthium, or common wormwood, is well known, and Artemisia tridentata is the sage brush of the Rocky Mountain region.

Artemisia tridentata, commonly called "big sagebrush", Great Basin 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 shrubs are the dominant plant species across large portions of the Great Basin. The range extends northward through British Columbia's southern interior, south into Baja California, and east into the western Great Plains of New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, and the Dakotas.

Several major threats exist to sage brush ecosystems, including human settlements, conversion to agricultural land, livestock grazing, invasive plant species, wildfires, and climate change.

Sagebrush provides food and habitat for a variety of species, such as sage grouse, pronghorn antelope, gray vireo, pygmy rabbit, and mule deer. Artemisia tridentata is the state flower of Nevada.