Taxon

Chamaebatiaria millefolium

 
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Chamaebatiaria millefolium - fernbush, desert sweet
Image: Cristina Salvador
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Common name: fernbush, desert sweet
Family: Rosaceae (Rose)
Distribution: Western United States
Habitat: Pinyon/juniper and pine woodlands, montane slopes
Hardiness: USDA Zone 4 (-30 to -20 °F)
Life form: Shrub/sub-shrub
Occurrence in New Mexico: Exotic
Growing Conditions: Fernbush is distributed from Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming, south through eastern California, Nevada, Utah, and northern Arizona. It grows in chaparral, among sagebrush and mountain shrubs, in piñon-juniper and lodgepole pine woodlands, and in western hardwood forests. It is generally found on dry, rocky or gravelly slopes, at 4,500-8,000 feet elevation in Arizona, at 3,000-11,000 feet in California, and usually on limestone soils of mountain brush communities at intermediate elevations in eastern Nevada. It grows well on gravel, sandy loam, loam, and clay loam soils, and is very drought tolerant once established. Seeds can be planted fresh (when collected) or cold-stratified for 3 months before planting the following spring. Twigs may root when they contact the ground.
Description: Fernbush is a multi-stemmed and densely branched, aromatic shrub 3-7 feet tall, which is evergreen in warm climates and deciduous in cold climates (and semi-evergreen in Santa Fe). The gray-green, fern-like, pinnate leaves (½-3 inches long) are twice divided into very small leaflets. The twigs and leaves are glandular, sticky and hairy. Showy clusters (about 4 inches long) of small, densely glandular white flowers are produced at the ends of the stems in summer. The capsule-like seedheads split open when mature, but persist on the plant throughout winter.
Links: SFBG Plant of the Month • Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN-Taxonomy) • NatureServe Explorer • SEINet • Wildflower Center - Native Plant Database

Locations

  • 1: Art Trail • Accession: 2013-0043 (5)‎ • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 2: Art Trail • Accession: 2014-0015 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 3: Welcome Garden • Accession: 2013-0043/11 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 4: Welcome Garden • Accession: 2013-0043/12 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 5: Welcome Garden • Accession: 2013-0043/13 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 6: Welcome Garden • Accession: 2013-0043/14 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 7: Welcome Garden • Accession: 2013-0043/15 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 8: Xeric/Dry Garden • Accession: 2013-0043/16 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 9: Xeric/Dry Garden • Accession: 2013-0043/1 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 10: Xeric/Dry Garden • Accession: 2013-0043/2 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 11: Xeric/Dry Garden • Accession: 2013-0043/5 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 12: Xeric/Dry Garden • Accession: 2013-0043/6 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
  • 13: Xeric/Dry Garden • Accession: 2013-0043/7 • Provenance: Cultivated of Garden Origin
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