Nevada State Flower
Sagebrush
(Artemisia tridentata or trifida)
Adopted on March 20, 1917.
Adopted March 20, 1917, Nevada's state flower is sagebrush, also called as Sagebrush, Big Sagebrush, Common Sagebrush, Blue Sagebrush, or Black Sagebrush, (Artemisia tridentata
The sagebrush has small yellow and white flowers in the spring grows abundantly in the deserts of the Western United States.
A member of the wormwood family, sagebrush is a branching bush (1 to 12 feet high) and grows in regions where other kinds of vegetation cannot subsist. Known for its pleasant aroma, its gray-green twigs, and pale yellow flowers, sagebrush is an important winter food for sheep and cattle Native Americans used sagebrush leaves as medicine and sagebrush bark for weaving mats.
Fast Facts
- Proclaimed the state flower on March 20, 1917.
- Botanical name: Artemisia tridentata or Artemisia trifida \
- Nevada, the "Silver State,"is also known as the "Sagebrush State."
- Sagebrush can be found on the official Nevada state flag as well as on the commemorative Nevada quarter minted in 2006.
- Sagebrush Trivia: The name of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' student newspaper is The Nevada Sagebrush.
Sagebrush can be found on the official Nevada state flag as well as on the commemorative Nevada quarter minted in 2006.
Nevada State Flower: Sagebrush
Artemisia tridentata, commonly called "big 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)
Sagebrush grows abundantly in the deserts of the Western United States. A member of the wormwood family, sagebrush is a branching bush (1 to 12 feet high) and grows in regions where other kinds of vegetation cannot subsist. Known for its pleasant aroma, its gray-green twigs, and pale yellow flowers, sagebrush is an important winter food for sheep and cattle.
Identification of the Sagebrush
- Leaf:
Simple, alternate (but typically clustered at each node), persistent (but some leaves are drought deciduous). Small (1/2 to 2 inches long) and narrowly
wedge-shaped with a 3-lobed apex; silvery-green and pubescent on both surfaces; strong scented; sessile.
- Flower: Monoecious. Very small, yellowish, and tubular; borne in small heads on long, upright spikes; some flowers perfect and some imperfect.
- Fruit: Very small achenes; 4 or 5-sided or ribbed
- Twig: Young twigs are slender, silvery-gray, and pubescent, becoming grayish-brown as they age.
- Bark: Grayish-brown, shreddy, and splitting lengthwise.
- Form: An upright, evergreen shrub commonly growing from several to 15 feet tall. Silvery-green and strongly scented with gray shreddy bark.
Nevada Law
The law designating the Sagebrush as the official Nevada state flower is found in the Nevada Revised Statutes, Title 19, Chapter 235, Section 235.050.
TITLE 19 - MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS RELATED TO GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
CHAPTER 235. STATE EMBLEMS; GIFTS AND ENDOWMENTS, MISCELLANEOUS SYMBOLS.
SECTION 235.050.
NRS 235.050 State flower. The shrub known as Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata or trifida) is hereby designated as the official state flower
of the State of Nevada
(Added to NRS by 1959, 107; A 1967, 702)
Taxonomic Hierarchy: Sagebrush
Kingdom: Plantae - Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta - Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta - Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae - Aster family
Genus: Artemisia L. - sagebrush
Species: Artemisia tridentata Nutt. - big sagebrush
Species: Artemisia trifida Nutt. var. rigida Nutt.
State Floral Emblems
