analysis indicates that fringed sagebrush * ranks with alfalfa hay in 

 the proportions of crude fiber and carbohydrates, and contains about 

 four times as much fat, one-half as much ash, and two-thirds as 

 much protein as that leguminous forage. Fringed sagebrush is 

 moderately nutritious, being a more important fattening than body- 

 building or energy-producing feed. 



Although fringed sagebrush produces an abundance of seed, lab- 

 oratory germination tests in the Southwest indicate that the viabil- 

 ity of fresh seed is low ; however, it increases with age up to several 

 years after maturity. 5 The apparent increase of viability of the 

 seed for several years, as well as the tendency to multiply from the 

 rootstocks, enable fringed sagebrush to spread rapidly. The deep, 

 extensive root system qualifies this species to withstand considerable 

 drought and also fortifies the soil against erosion. 



Fringed sagebrush is, as stated above, closely related to wormwood 

 of the Old World, the commercial source of medicinal oil of worm- 

 wood and absinthe, an intoxicating liquor. Rabak 6 reports that 

 "white sage" (fringed sagebrush) yields a fragrant, essential oil 

 containing a high percentage of borneol camphor and cineol (eu- 

 calyptol) which, because of valuable antiseptic qualities, may even- 

 tually be used as ingredients in medicinal soaps and scents. He 

 suggests the cultivation of the American plant as a possible com- 

 mercial source of borneol, used in the manufacture of celluloid. This 

 species seemingly is a far more promising natural source of this 

 material than the plants native to Borneo and the Malay Archi- 

 pelago, from which the bulk of the present supply of commercial 

 borneol is obtained. Various decoctions of fringed sagebrush were 

 used by the Indians and early western explorers in the treatment of 

 colds, and as a diuretic, mild cathartic, or for bathing. Its pollen, 

 where abundant, causes severe cases of hay fever. 7 Inasmuch as 

 the usual treatment of hay fever cases consists in giving injections 

 of a dilute pollen solution to build up the patient's resistance to 

 the irritant, fringed sagebrush becomes equally important as a 

 preventive and remedy for hay fever caused by its own pollen. 



a See footnote on preceding page. 



5 Wilson, C. P. THE ARTIFICIAL RESEEDING OF NEW MEXICO RANGES. N. MeX. Agr. 



Expt. Sta. Bull. 189, 37 pp., illus. 1931. 



6 Rabak, F. WILD VOLATILE-OIL PLANTS AND THEIR ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE : i. BLACK 

 SAGE ; ii. WILD SAGE ; in. SWAMP BAT. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Bull. 235, 

 37 pp., illus. 1912. 



7 Hall, H. M., and Clements, F. E. THE PHYLOGENETIC METHOD IN TAXONOMY. THE 



NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES OF ARTEMISIA, CHRYSOTHAMNUS, AND ATRIPLEX. Carnegie Inst. 



Wash. Pub. 326, 355 pp., illus. 1923. 



