Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus is a species of shrub in the daisy family known by the common names yellow rabbitbrush and green rabbitbrush. It is native to western North America, from British Columbia to California to Nebraska, where it grows in sagebrush and woodland habitat. It grows easily in alkaline and saline soils, and thrives on soils that are rich in calcium. It rapidly establishes in disturbed habitat, including burns, flooded washes, and rockslides, so it is a valuable shrub for revegetating damaged land such as overgrazed rangeland and abandoned mining areas. This shrub grows up to about 1.5 meters in height with spreading brittle pale-colored stem branches. The leaves are up to a few centimeters long and may be thin and thready or up to a centimeter wide and oblong in shape. They are hairy, resinous, and sticky. The flower cluster is a bushy cluster of flower heads, each head one half to one centimeter long. The flower head is lined with sticky yellow-green phyllaries and contains several yellowish protruding flowers. The fruit is a hairy achene a few millimeters long with a wispy pappus at the tip.

Plant type

Shrub

Size

3 - 5 ft Tall

Form

Upright

Growth rate

Moderate

Calscape icon
Color

Yellow

Flowering season

Spring

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Soil description

Prefers sandy or loamy soils. Does not grow well in clay soils.

Propagation

For propagating by seed: No treatment.

Site type

Sagebrush and woodlands

Plant communities

Northern Juniper Woodland, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Sagebrush Scrub, Yellow Pine Forest

Birds
Bees
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

2 confirmed and 14 likely

Confirmed Likely

Sagebrush Checkerspot

Chlosyne acastus

Rabbitbrush Webbing Moth

Synnoma lynosyrana

Ipsilon Dart

Agrotis ipsilon

Tobacco Budworm Moth

Chloridea virescens