Photograph from Lewis and Clark Herbarium/Academy of Natural Sciences
Gray Rabbitbrush (Rubber Rabbitbrush)
October 2, 1804, along the Cheyenne River, South Dakota.
A shrub with erect, slender, flexible branches covered with dense, feltlike, matted hairs (often overlooked until one scrapes the surface lightly), very narrow leaves, and small yellow heads in dense clusters at ends of stems. Flower heads 0.3-0.5 in (0.8-1.3 cm) high, slender. Leaves 0.8-3 in (2-7.5 cm) long. Height: up to 7 ft (2.1 m).
Dry open places with sagebrush, or grassland or open woodland.
From western Canada to California, Texas, and northern Mexico.
Gray rabbitbrush is a common and variable species in a genus found mainly in western North America. Some plants are light green, others have silvery hairs. Navajo people obtained a yellow dye from the flower heads.