Purshia tridentata

Taxobox
name = "Purshia tridentata"

---

image_width = 240px
image_caption = Antelope bitterbrush in Craters of the Moon National Monument
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Rosales
familia = Rosaceae
genus = "Purshia"
species = "P. tridentata"
binomial = "Purshia tridentata"
binomial_authority = (Pursh) DC.

"Purshia tridentata" is a nitrogen fixing shrub in the genus "Purshia", native to mountainous areas of western North America ranging from southeastern British Columbia in the north, east to Montana and south to California and New Mexico. It grows on arid mountainsides; in California it occurs between 700–3,400 m above sea level (Jepson), but lower further north, at 320–1,065 m in British Columbia (Plants of British Columbia).

Common names include Antelope Brush, Antelope Bitterbrush, Buckbrush, Quinine Brush, and less commonly Deerbrush, Blackbrush, and Greasewood. Some of these names are shared with other closely related species.

It is a low, deciduous shrub growing to a height of 1–5 m, with slender three- to five-lobed leaves 5–20 mm long. The flowers are pale yellow, with five petals 6–8 mm long, and darker yellow anthers. The fruit is a cluster of dry, slender, leathery achenes 0.6–2 cm long.

External links

* [http://www.cwnp.org/photopgs/pdoc/putridentata.html Central Washington Native Plants: Antelope bitterbrush]
* [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Purshia+tridentata Jepson Flora Project: "Purshia tridentata"]
* [http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Purshia+tridentata Plants of British Columbia: "Purshia tridentata"]
* [http://extension.usu.edu/rangeplants/Woody/bitterbrush.htm Range Plants of Utah (Antelope bitterbrush page)]
* [http://plants.usda.gov/gallery/pubs/putr2_001_php.jpgNRCS: USDA Plants Profile "Purshis tridentata"] , Range
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PUTR2]