Sawtooth butterweed, also known as tall butterweed, and often erroneously 

 called goldenrod, is a tall, leafy perennial of the composite, or sunflower family 

 (Compositae). The specific name xcrra. (Latin serra, a saw), as well as the 

 common name, refer to the saw-toothed leaves which are characteristic of this 

 plant. Sawtooth butterweed grows in all of the western range States, except 

 possibly Arizona, at altitudes of from 3,000 to 10,000 feet. In the Intermoun- 

 tain region it extends from the sagebrush to the spruce belt, usually being 

 found at elevations between about 5,000 and 0,500 feet; in the central Rocky 

 Mountains it largely occurs between 7,500 and 10,000 feet ; in New Mexico it is 

 rare and confined to the highest peaks ; in California and the Northwest it 

 chiefly grows between about 3,000 and 7,000 feet. This plant is characteristic 

 of moist but well-drained, rich, sandy, or gravelly loams, but sometimes occurs 

 on drier sites. It occurs 1 on all slopes, apparently without distinction, as well 

 as on level areas. The plant is also common in open-weed types, moist 

 meadows, and in aspen. It may be the dominant element in mixed grass- 

 weed types, where species of brornegrass, wheatgrass, wild-rye, and geranium 

 are its frequent associates. 



This species is one of the best forage butterweeds and is probably even 

 more important on the range than the similar and closely related arrowleaf 

 butterweed (S. tritmffulafris) because it usually grows more abundantly and 

 occurs at somewhat lower elevations. Early in the summer, sheep eat both 

 the stems and leaves but later, as the stems become somewhat woody, only 

 the leaves are consumed. In the Intel-mountain region, sawtooth butterweed 

 ranks as an excellent forage plant wherever it occurs. It is hardy, leafy, 

 withstands grazing remarkably well, produces a large volume of succulent 

 growth, and is highly palatable to both sheep and cattle, though sheep or- 

 dinarily graze it more fully than cattle. Although both sheep and cattle are 

 known to have eaten these plants from the top down one-third or one-half, 

 including the flower heads, the flower and seed heads are, as a rule, left 

 ungrazed; hence, much seed is usually matured. In California and the Pacific 

 Northwest the species is usually regarded as fairly good for sheep but as only 

 a poor to fair cattle weed. Its local abundance and the number of palatable 

 grasses and weeds associated with it are chiefly responsible for the varying 

 esteem in which it is held. Sawtooth butterweed is only rarely touched by 

 horses. It is deemed good forage for deer and elk, especially during the 

 spring and early summer. 



In the Intermountain region, where sawtooth butterweed is an important 

 forage plant, it has naturally increased within the past decade, especially on 

 protected ranges. Some of the species' increase in this area, however, is at- 

 tributable to artificial reseeding which has been conducted on the Uinta 1 

 and Manti National Forests. The abundant pappus on the copious seeds 

 favors wind dissemination ; seed matures from late August to early November. 



This species is sometimes confused with goldenrods (Solidago spp.) despite 

 that the latter have the bracts of the involucre arranged in several series, in 

 contrast to butterweeds whose bracts are arranged in one series. Sawtooth 

 butterweed differs from the closely related arrowleaf butterweed in that the 

 leaves are lance- or egg-shaped and taper near the base, so that they obscure 

 the leafstalk. Moreover, its leaves are neither square at the base nor triangular- 

 or arrow-shaped as in 8. triangidaris. Typically, the margins of the leaves 

 are sharply saw-toothed, except that the uppermost leaves are occasionally 

 un toothed (entire). 



S. ser'ra integrius' cula,, a variety of this species with all of the leaves 

 entire or else minutely toothed, and with smaller, narrower, few-flowered 

 heads, is common from eastern Oregon to California, Nevada, and Wyoming, 

 growing along creeks and in other moist places. Kennedy 2 calls it an im- 

 portant forage for sheep in eastern Nevada, where it is grazed from June 

 to August, inclusive. In the early summer, the entire plant is eaten, including 

 the sweet and juicy stems, but later, as they get coarse and woody, the 

 stems are left untouched. The young buds, flowers, and leaves, are eagerly 

 eaten by sheep. The plants are extremely resistive to grazing, and enough 

 seed is produced for natural propagation. 



1 Dayton, W. A. KNOWLEDGE OF PROPERTIES AND USES OF GROUNDSELS INCREASING. 

 U. S. Dept. Agr., Forest Worker 9(2) : 16. 1933. 



2 Kennedy, P. B. SUMMER RANGES OF EASTERN NEVADA SHEEP. Nev. Agr. Expt. Sta. 

 Bull. 55, [56] pp., illus. 1903. 



