160 MISC. PUBLICATION 101, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
Kidneywert (3B. pilularis), also known as bush, or seashore 
groundsel(-tree), chaparral broom, coyote bush, and kidney-root, is 
a smooth, branching, prostrate-spreading or erect, often galled, ever- 
green shrub, 6 inches to 5 feet high, ranging from Oregon to southern 
California. It is typically a coastal or seashore plant, growing (usu- 
ally in colonies) on dunes and low sand hills, but also occurring in- 
land (though mostly infrequent) in the foothills and mountains up 
to at least 5,000 feet. It is hardly a forage plant, being at most 
sparingly goat-grazed but not touched by other livestock. Aside 
from the therapeutic properties of the roots (7S) the species has 
interest as an aid in the prevention of wind-erosion of dunes. 
Broom baccharis (B. sarothroides), locally called greasewood and 
rosin brush, ranges from Lower California and islands to southern 
California, southwestern New Mexico, and Sonora. The bundle- 
clustered and broomlke (fastigiate) green stems are 6 to 15 feet 
high. This frequently abundant and common species occurs. along 
streams, in draws and canyon bottoms, wet alkaline sites, and dry 
rocky gravelly slopes and washes between 2,000 and 5,000 feet eleva- 
tion, often in association with mesquite and in open weed-browse- 
grass types. The herbage has a resinous-bitterish taste and is nor- 
mally unpalatable to grazing animals. It has been occasionally 
reported as poisonous in the-winter and early spring months at the 
time that it is most apt to be browsed by cattle and horses, but 
apparently nothing has yet been published on the subject. 
RABBIT BRUSHES (CHRYSOTHAMNUS SPP., SYNS., IN PART, APLOPAPPUS, 
BIGELOVIA, AND LINOSYRIS) 
Chrysothamnus, a shrubby genus of about 70 valid species and 
perhaps a dozen valid subspecies or varieties confined to western 
North America, mainly the United States, is one of the most plenti- 
ful, widespread, and characteristic groups of woody plants in the 
West. (PI. 12, B.) 
Rabbit brush is the name probably most commonly applied to this 
genus in the West and Chrysothamnus is probably the genus most 
commonly called by that name. Rabbitsage, rayless-goldenrod, and 
yellowbrush are also in frequent use, none very distinctive names. 
The average palatability of the species ranges from worthless to 
fairly good, the chief importance of the genus being its abundance. 
Some of the species are useful indicators of overgrazing. The 
browse utility of the rabbit brushes is largely confined to the more 
arid portions of the Great Basin and its environs. The leaves and 
upper portions of the lower stalks appear to be the most palatable 
parts, sheep and cattle taking them mostly in the fall, especially 
after frosts and when the vegetation is wet from the late rains or the 
first snowfalls of winter. Sheep have frequently been observed to 
nip off the flower stalks and, after consuming them, permit the 
flower heads to drop to the ground in a circle around the plant, leav- 
ing the other portions untouched. 
Lanceleaf rabbit brush (C. lanceolatus, syns. Bigelovia lanceolata, 
C. viscidifiorus lanceolatws), sometimes called dwarf yellowbrush, — 
is a woody-based perennial, 8 to 12 (rarely 16) inches high, rang- | 
ing from Washington to Nevada, Colorado, and Montana, and 
often abundant on dry plains and slopes. In the Great Basin its 
