Rabbitbrush vs. chamisa (house, garden, eat)

[Towanda]

I am pretty sure I know exactly what chamisa is.

What I want to know is .. is rabbitbrush the same thing as chamisa or a completely different smaller plant?

I have little plants (they look like tiny chamisa plants) all over my property and they are covered with yellow blossoms. They have a greener color than the gray-blue of chamisa plants.

Would these be rabbitbrush? I have tried an internet search without finding any really good pictures.

[songinthewind7]

The folks here on CD in the garden section might be able to answer your question. They're helpful in answering my plant questions.

[jazzlover]

Read about it here. Rabbitbrush and chamisa are synonomous.

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers, Chrysothamnus

[Towanda]

I'm pretty sure someone mentioned here once that they were different plants, maybe Devin Bent?

Thanks for that site, Jazzlover. Then if they are the same I wonder why I have two different sizes, the big gray-green bushes I call chamisa and these small little bushes with very green foliage. i guess they are different varieties of the rabbitbrush.

Interesting that the flowers/bushes in the pictures don't look anything like mine, though.

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by Towanda

I'm pretty sure someone mentioned here once that they were different plants, maybe Devin Bent?

Thanks for that site, Jazzlover. Then if they are the same I wonder why I have two different sizes, the big gray-green bushes I call chamisa and these small little bushes with very green foliage. i guess they are different varieties of the rabbitbrush.

Interesting that the flowers/bushes in the pictures don't look anything like mine, though.

The little green spherical bushes certainly are not chamisa -- chamisa are really not very green at all and are much bigger and are not so spherical. The little green bushes are what I have been told is snake weed -- an ugly name for a beautiful little plant. With a very little encouragement (i.e., a little water and weeding out the competition) they will give you a nice green that lasts spring, summer and fall and fades a little in the winter. In a healthy plant, the gold flowers will last a long time, slowly fading in the winter. In the spring the flowers will be dead to be replaced by the new.

I would recommend that you encourage them with a little water and weeding and you will be rewarded with a beautiful little plant much greener than you ordinarily see around here. With no watering and weeding at all, they won't look that good -- too much will be dead.

However, if you have cattle or horses, apparently our snake weed is not that edible -- so some try to eradicate it -- it is not what you want in your pasture. Also deer don't eat them. But I know what deer have done in many places back east and I am not about to encourage their western cousins to come onto my few acres.

Moreover, I find snake weed much preferable to the things that spontaneously grow in my yard otherwise. And it is native to the area.

Part of the problem with identification is that the titles snake weed and rabbit bush have been applied to multiple different plants because they supposedly repel or attract snakes or rabbits respectively. Thus it is true that Chamisa is called rabbit bush (but not snake weed) by some. I believe that this particular snake weed is also called broom weed and in Spanish escobilla, yerba-de-vibora, and coyaye. The scientific name may be Gutierrezia sarothrae. See http://museum.utep.edu/chih/gardens/...M/gutisaro.htm

As far as I know, our local snake weed is never called rabbitbush, so it has no names in common with Chamisa.The other plant that the two get confused with is Four-Winged Salt Bush which looks more like the chamisa -- but I don't think you see much of it at 7,000 feet.

[Towanda]

Devin! Thank you!

Snake weed describes my little plants perfectly. I was sure they were not related to chamisa as they look so different.

They are all over my property -- I will water the ones up close to the house so they will keep blooming.

Thanks again for all the info!!

~Towanda