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Broom Snakeweed

Gutierrezia sarothrae (Pursh) Britt. & Rusby

Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

▲▼ pre-flowering plants

▲▼ pre-flowering plants

▲▼pre-flowering plants in range area

▲▼ mature, flowering plants

▲▼ flowers/inflorescences

▲▼ flowers/inflorescences

▲▼post-flowering plants in range area

 

 

Gutierrezia sarothrae (Pursh) Britt. & Rusby, Broom Snakeweed:  (Bayer Code:  GUESA; US Code GUSA2)

·         U.S. native simple perennial with stout rootstock and sometimes woody stem base that grows 6-24 inches tall and equally wide or wider with much branching; branches are thin, green to brown, usually hairless, but can have a few stiff hairs

·         Leaves are linear, often folded in half length-wise, with smooth margins, and glandular dots that make the leaves feel sticky

·         Head inflorescences are in clusters at tips of stems; individual heads are about 1/8 to ¼ inch diameter, with 3-8 yellow ray florets (“petals”) and 2-6 yellow disk florets; flowers mid-summer through autumn

·         Bracts below the inflorescence are tan with glossy green tips, linear-lanceolate in overlapping rows

·         Found in dry prairies, rangeland in western U.S.

·         Toxic if grazed, but usually avoided, which is why it can develop high population numbers in overgrazed rangeland/pastures

·         Similar-looking common broomweed, prairie broomweed (Amphiachyris dracunculoides) is an annual weed, and usually  has a single upright stem holding the much-branched upper portion of the plant, so that it looks tree-like; the leaves and flowers of both plants are similar

 

 

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