Vegetation Around Las Vegas, Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa)

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Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa)
Shrubs Around Las Vegas, Vegetation Around Las Vegas

General: Rubber Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) is a large, upright shrub. The fresh stems and leaves are densely hairy (felt-like). The leaves are long, linear, and lack resin pits. During fall, clusters of yellow flowers are produced at the ends of the stems. The flowerheads are composed only of disk flowers. The phyllaries are of unequal length in several series, but aligned vertically. Sometimes there is a strong odor.

Rubber Rabbitbrush often is blamed for seasonal allergies, but the pollen is sticky and insect dispersed. Rubber Rabbitbrush pollen is not generally blowing in the wind, so it can't really be causing seasonal allergies.

Rubber Rabbitbrush is a fairly common component of vegetation communities in dry, well-drained gravelly areas on upper bajadas into the lower mountains in the Upper Sonoran (Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) and Transition (Yellow Pine Forest) life zones.

Around Las Vegas, look for Rubber Rabbitbrush in the mountains around town, particularly along roads on Mt. Charleston and up in the Sheep Range.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae), formerly Ericameria nauseosa.




Rubber Rabbitbrush uppermost leaves	Rubber Rabbitbrush uppermost leaves

Rubber Rabbitbrush leaves covered in dense white hairs	Rubber Rabbitbrush leaves covered in dense white hairs
Rubber Rabbitbrush upper stems and leaves covered in dense white hairs	Rubber Rabbitbrush upper stems and leaves covered in dense white hairs
Rubber Rabbitbrush stem with dense, felt-like hairs	Rubber Rabbitbrush stem with dense, felt-like hairs
Sometimes the felt-like hairs are so dense they don't look like hairs	Sometimes the felt-like hairs are so dense they don't look like hairs
Rubber Rabbitbrush upper stems and leaves covered in dense white hairs	Rubber Rabbitbrush upper stems and leaves covered in dense white hairs
Rubber Rabbitbrush old lower stems lose the dense white hairs	Rubber Rabbitbrush old lower stems lose the dense white hairs
Rubber Rabbitbrush flowers	Rubber Rabbitbrush flowers
Rubber Rabbitbrush with only disk flowers	Phyllaries unequal length, arranged in rows
Phyllaries unequal length, arranged linearly	Phyllaries unequal length, arranged linearly
Rubber Rabbitbrush dried flowers during winter	Rubber Rabbitbrush dried flowers during winter

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate. Names generally follow the USDA database.
; Last updated 241203

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