Artemisia californica

Artemisia californica, also known as California sagebrush, is a species of western North American shrub in the sunflower family. Artemisia californica branches from the base and grows out from there, becoming rounded; it grows tall. The stems of the plant are slender, flexible, and glabrous (hairless) or canescent (fuzzy). The leaves range from long and are pinnately divided with 2–4 threadlike lobes less than 5 cm long. Their leaves are hairy and light green to gray in color; the margins of the leaves curl under. The inflorescences are leafy, narrow, and sparse. The capitula are less than in diameter. The pistillate flowers range in number from 6 to 10 and the disk flowers range from 15 to 30; they are generally yellowish, but sometimes red. The fruits produced are resinous achenes up to 1.5 mm long. There is a pappus present that forms a minute crown on the achene body. The plant contains terpenes which make it quite aromatic. Many people regard the species as having a pleasant smell. The shrub is native to western California and northwestern Baja California. It is endemic to the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, in coastal sage scrub, coastal strand, chaparral, and dry foothill communities. It is found from sea level to in elevation. This species is also found on many islands adjacent to the Baja California peninsula, including the Coronado Islands and Cedros Island. It is even found on Guadalupe Island, in the Pacific Ocean. The prototypical plant association of A. californica is chaparral, notably in the California Coast Ranges; toyon and sage are also key components of communities which are transitional between chaparral and coastal sage scrub. It is often claimed to be allelopathic, secreting chemicals into the ground which inhibit other plants from growing near and around the shrub. This shrub is cultivated as an ornamental plant in native plant and wildlife gardens, natural landscaping design, and for restoration of disturbed sites and degraded coastal sage scrub.