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| Artemisia californica |
| Family: Asteraceae (Aster) |
| Flowers — color: yellow, size: 1/16", type: daisy (compound) |
Small, yellow swellings at the end of short stems. They are said to be composed of disk florets only. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if the buds in photo #1 are open yet.
Habit:
A pale green explosion, frozen in time, different from so many shrubs in California. This evergreen plant has light green to gray needles that branch multiply. The needles are very soft, almost feathery.
Rubbing the leaves releases a pleasant aroma very similar to the herb sage, but these plants are not related to salvias. The odorous chemicals, terpenes, protect the bush from consumption by the deer. Or so I heard. I bought three sagebrushes at a local nursery and left them unprotected overnight. The deer seemed to enjoy sampling each one: perhaps they thought the pot was a salad bowl. Now the plants are in the ground and drier: the deer leave them alone. But deer always eat the tender growing tips of shrub stems, and so my sagebrush may be stunted until they develop new shoots.
The white foamy exudate in the fourth photo comes from the spittlebug—California hosts about six species. Its adult phase is sometimes called froghopper: they can jump over 100 times their body size and they bear some resemblance to leafhoppers. Unlike other pests that suck sap, the larval nymph collects fluids from the xylem, i.e. traveling up from the roots. This fluid is over 99% water, so the nymph excretes a lot of moisture to extract nutrients. The foam affords some protection against predators and the elements.
Very drought-tolerant, California Sagebrush enjoys open sunny areas and southern exposures. The soft branches provides cover for many birds, like California quail and gnatcatchers. Dry gardeners use this sagebrush for its contrasting color and form. Chumash traditional uses include headache cures, arrow-making, and purification rituals. The nearby Cahuila people considered it one of their most important medicinal plants.
Related to Mugwort, a columnar plant with fleshier leaves.