Blackbrush, also called Dixie blackb(r)ush and, especially m 

 southern Utah and northern Arizona, burrobrush, is an intricately 

 branched shrub from 1 to 6 feet tall, with numerous, short and rigid, 

 spinelike twigs. It belongs to the rose family (Rosaceae) and is the 

 only species of its genus. The generic name, Coleogyne, signifies 

 sheathed ovary (Greek k&leos, sheath, + gune, female) and refers to 

 the peculiar tubular sheath which encloses the ovary, or seed ; ramo- 

 sissima is a Latin word meaning very branched, and describes the 

 branched habit of this shrub, with its numerous spinose twigs. The 

 common name, blackbrush, is appropriate, since this bush, when 

 abundant, lends a dark gray or blackish appearance to the land- 

 scape. 



This species ranges from southern Nevada and southwestern 

 Colorado to Arizona and the Mohave Desert region of California. 

 It is the dominant species of the blackbrush association in the Great 

 Basin and in northern Arizona and inhabits desert mesas and also 

 foothills in the pinon-juniper type. Shantz (in Tidestrom) 1 reports 

 that, in the Intermountain Region, the blackbrush association lies in 

 a broad overlapping belt between the northern and southern desert 

 areas; it accompanies, therefore, both northern and southern desert 

 plants. The species is often associated with spiny hop-sage (Grayia 

 spinosa). In southern Utah and northern Arizona it is locally 

 abundant and forms almost pure stands on large areas, typically 

 occurring in sandy or gravelly soils. 



The leafage, although small and scanty, is persistent and sometimes 

 evergreen and is available throughout the year. It provides fair 

 forage for cattle and sheep during the winter, especially in the Dixie 

 Forest region of southwestern Utah, where it is abundant. The 

 shrub is self -protected to some extent because of its spiny character 

 and it is apt to survive on heavily used range. Sheep and goats 

 utilize it to better advantage than do cattle. On the Navaho Res- 

 ervation, where vegetative conditions have been altered by severe 

 overgrazing in the past, it is grazed as closely by goats and sheep as 

 its habit of growth will permit. It also furnishes fair forage for 

 deer, and, possibly for other game animals. 



has a roughish cor- 



The ashy-gray bark, becoming black in age, h; 

 ^ugated appearance. Blackbrush flowers in April 



and May. 



1 Tidestrom, I. FLORA OF UTAH AND NEVADA. U. S. Natl. Mus., Contrib. U. S. Natl. 

 Herbarium 25, G65 pp., illus. 1925. 



