Desert Sweet

desert sweet
fernbush
tansy bush

More info for the term: cover

Desert sweet provides fair cover for antelope, upland game birds, small
nongame birds, and small mammals [2].

More info for the terms: fern, follicle, fruit, shrub

Desert sweet is a densely branched, aromatic shrub 3.3 to 6.6 feet (1-3
m) tall. The stems and herbage are glandular and stellate-pubescent
when young. Desert sweet leaves are 0.4 to 3.2 inches (1-8 cm) long and
are twice-pinnately compound. They resemble minute fern fronds. The
inflorescence is a panicle or raceme and the fruit is a follicle with
few seeds [7,8,12,13,20].

Desert sweet is distributed from Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming, south
through eastern California, Nevada, Utah, and northern Arizona
[7,8,12,13,20].

No information on fire ecology or related topics (conditions for
regeneration, sprouting ability, or successional role) was found in the
literature.

More info on this topic.

More info for the term: phanerophyte

Phanerophyte

More info for the term: xeric

Desert sweet is generally found in dry, rocky habitats [7,12,13] from
4,500 to 8,000 feet (1,360-2,400 m) elevation in Arizona [8], and from
about 3,000 to 11,000 feet (900-3,300 m) elevation in California [7,13].
In eastern Nevada desert sweet is found in mountain brush communities at
intermediate elevations on xeric, rocky sites, usually on soils of
limestone parent materials [18].

Desert sweet grows well on gravel, sandy loam, loam, and clay loam soils [2].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

209 Bristlecone pine
217 Aspen
219 Limber pine
220 Rocky Mountain juniper
238 Western juniper
239 Pinyon - juniper

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

More info for the term: shrub

FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the terms: forest, woodland

K008 Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
K022 Great Basin pine forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K055 Sagebrush steppe

Desert sweet is browsed by sheep, goats, and deer, but is not abundant
enough to be considered an important browse species [6,8,12].

Desert sweet and purple Dorr's sage (Salvia dorrii ssp. carnosa)-desert
sweet habitat types at Lava Beds National Monument, California, occur on
rocky basalt lava flows where disturbance by man, fire, and grazing are
very low [3].

Desert sweet occurs in pinyon (Pinus spp.)-juniper (Juniperus spp.)
woodlands in Arizona with true pinyon (P. edulis), singleleaf pinyon (P.
monophylla), Utah juniper (J. osteosperma), and oneseed juniper (J.
monosperma). Other associated species include broom snakeweed
(Gutierrezia sarothrae), scrub oak (Quercus turbinella), cliffrose
(Cowania mexicana), dwarf rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus depressus), rubber
rabbitbrush (C. nauseosus), antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata),
Fremont barberry (Berberis fremontii), green ephedra (Ephedra viridis),
Saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), banana yucca (Yucca
baccata), cholla or prickly pear (Opuntia spp.), blue grama (Bouteloua
gracilis), Arizona fescue (Festuca arizonica), and prairie junegrass
(Koeleria cristata) [10,11,14].

At upper elevations of the singleleaf pinyon (P. ,omophylla)-Utah
juniper (J. osteosperma) zone in the White Mountains of California,
desert sweet is associated with Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus
longaeva), limber pine (P. flexilis), wax currant (Ribes cereum), green
ephedra, desert bitterbrush (Purshia glandulosa), oceanspray (Holodiscus
spp.), and low rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) [16].

More info for the term: shrub

Shrub

AZ CA ID NV OR UT WY

Native Americans in the Great Basin area made a tea from desert sweet
leaves for use in the alleviation of cramps and stomachaches [12].

Desert sweet is not palatable to cattle or horses [2].

More info on this topic.

Desert sweet flowers from July to November in Arizona [8] and from June
to August in California [13].

More info for the term: fire regime

NO-ENTRY


FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".

More info for the terms: fresh, stratification

Little information concerning reproduction in desert sweet is available
in the literature. No pregermination treatment is required for fresh
seeds, although stored seeds require 3 months of cold-moist
stratification prior to planting [21]. Desert sweet layers when twigs
contact the ground (Fryer 2015 personal observation).

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
12 Colorado Plateau

Spiraea millefolium Torr. [20]

The currently accepted scientific name of desert sweet is Chamaebatiaria
millefolium (Torr.) Maxim. [7,8,13,20]. It is in the family Rosaceae.
There are no recognized subspecies, varieties, or forms.

Desert sweet may be moderately useful for erosion control in Utah [2].