white sagebrush
Table of Contents
Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt.
Alternate Common Names: white sage, prairie sage, western mugwort, Louisiana sage, prairie wormwood, cudweed, mugwort, dark-leaved mugwort, sagewort, western sage, sailor’s tobacco, sagebrush
Scientific Synonym: Artemisia vulgaris var. ludoviciana (Nuttall) Kuntze
Functional Group: forbs (wildflowers)
Family: aster or sunflower family (Asteraceae)
Description
- Life cycle and growth form
Perennial, spreading by rhizomes to form large colonies that exclude some other plants.
Height: 1-3 ft
- Leaves and stem
Alternate leaves, aromatic when crushed, of variable shape but mostly narrow, elongated ellipses up to 1 in wide and 3.5 (occasionally up to 5) in long, short-stalked or sessile, with silvery-white hairs on leaves and stems giving them a felt-like texture; stems may be branched or unbranched.
- Flower, fruit and seedhead
Flower: Individual florets are inconspicuous within silvery, barrel-shaped, 1/8 in heads arranged in clusters in upper leaf axils or in spike-like to open, branched arrays up to 17 in in length; at full flowering, yellow stamens and minute, yellow to reddish corollas may be visible; wind-pollinated.
Fruit/seedhead: Roughly cylindrical in shape, approximately 1/8 in long, pappus is absent, heads open to release seed (achenes) when mature.
- Seed
Seed characteristics
Seeds per ounce: 250,000 (IA NRCS)
1000 seed weight: 0.11 g (Seed Information Database)
Description: Cypsela (achene), elliptical in outline, about 0.5 mm long, light grayish-brown, without hairs or attached fluff (pappus).
Typical seed test
PLS: 84% (n = 11)
Purity: 92% (n = 11)
Germination: 30% (n = 10)
Dormant: 57% (n = 11)
(averages obtained from n tests of purchased seed lots)
- Habitat and range
Habitat: Dry to mesic soil; full sun; sandy or rocky prairies, roadsides. Wetland Indicator Status is Obligate Upland (UPL) for the Midwest.
Conservation status: Global- G5, secure; Michigan- S1, critically imperiled (NatureServe)
General Comments
All above ground parts of the plant have a distinctive sage-like fragrance when rubbed or crushed. This species has traditional medicinal and ceremonial uses among numerous Native American tribes. Because it is wind-pollinated, white sagebrush is not considered a resource for pollinators, though it is a larval host for at least one species of moth caterpillar, Phaneta argenticostana. Its mode of vegetative spread produces a dense network of rhizomes and roots that function in erosion control.
Recommendations for Seed Production
- Establishment for seed production
Direct seeding
We do not have experience direct-seeding this species for seed production.
Greenhouse
Seed pre-treatment: 60 days cold-moist stratification (fine silica sand)
Sowing: Surface (seed is small and must not be buried too deeply); seed directly onto plug flats or start seedlings in germination trays and dibble into plugs when seedlings have first true leaves; start in greenhouse about 8-10 weeks prior to transplanting.
Transplanting: Harden off seedlings 1-2 weeks prior to transplanting; transplant with 12 in plant spacing in plasticulture plots or into bare soil in 36 in rows, after danger of frost; cut or remove plastic after the first full growing season to allow plants to spread by rhizomes.
Note: Also readily propagated through division or rhizome cuttings (see NRCS Plant Guide referenced below).
- Stand management
Weeds: Few issues as dense, young colonies tend to exclude weeds; other small-seeded members of the aster family (e.g., frost aster, Symphyotrichum pilosum, and marestail, Erigeron canadensis) could contaminate seed and should be rogued out before harvest.
Pests: None noted.
Diseases: None noted.
- Seed production
First harvest: In fall of first year when started from greenhouse transplants.Yield: 15-60 pounds/acre (based on 5 plots)
Stand life: Peak seed production in the first two years, then declining.
Flowering date: late August - September
Seed maturity/Harvest date: Mid-October in northeast Iowa; gauge maturity by sampling heads from several plants and crushing to reveal developing seeds (a hand lens is helpful); mature seed will have a grayish-brown color and separate easily from the receptacle; watch for heads to open and release seed when mature; seed shatters easily and will be lost if harvest delayed.
Seed retention: Shattering begins once seedheads open in mid to late October.
Harvest date range at TPC (2003-2023): July 17 - Oct 28
Recommended harvest method: Combine at maturity or cut/swath stems when about 10% of plants in the plot have open seed heads and lay to dry in shed, then run through stationary combine.
- Seed cleaning and storage
Cleaning process: Brush (Westrup LA-H) with stiff bristles and #14 screen mantle to release seed from heads, use minimal vacuum; airscreen several times.
Seed storage: cool/dry (33-50° F, 30-50% RH)
Released Germplasm
Source identified material: Natural Selections/Iowa Ecotype Project Zones 1, 2, and 3
Cultivated variety (cultivar): Summit (LA); horticultural varieties may also exist.
- References
Chayka, K. (n.d.). Artemisia ludoviciana (white sage). Minnesota Wildflowers. https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/white-sage
Christiansen, P., & Muller, M. (1999). White sage - Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt. Prairie plants of Iowa - Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt. https://uipress.lib.uiowa.edu/ppi/display.php?record=Artemisia_ludoviciana
Cochrane, T. S., Elliot, K., & Lipke, C. S. (2014). White sage. In Prairie plants of the University of Wisconsin, Madison Arboretum (3rd ed., p. 68). University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum.
Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 2006a. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 19. Magnoliophyta: Asteridae, part 6: Asteraceae, part 1. Oxford University Press, New York. xxiv + 579 pp.
Hilty, J. (2020). White sage - Artemisia ludoviciana. Illinois Wildflowers. https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/white_sagex.htm
Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2023. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2023. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)]
NatureServe. 2024. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available https://explorer.natureserve.org/. (Accessed: February 16, 2024).
Runkel, S. T., & Roosa, D. M. (2009). Prairie sage. In Wildflowers of the tallgrass prairie: The upper Midwest (Second, p. 237). University of Iowa Press.
Shultz, Leila M. (2020, November 6). Artemisia ludoviciana Nuttall. Flora of North America. http://floranorthamerica.org/Artemisia_ludoviciana
Society for Ecological Restoration, International Network for Seed Based Restoration and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. (2023) Seed Information Database (SID). Available from: https://ser-sid.org/ (February 2023)
Stevens, M., & Roberts, W. (2000). Plant guide - USDA Plants Database - White sage, Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt. https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/cs_arlu.pdf
Species Guide Updated 12/19/2024