Index / Search / Gutierrezia sarothrae

§1 Plant — species · Asteraceae

Gutierrezia sarothrae (Pursh) Britton & Rusby

vernacular broom snakeweed


USDA
GUSA2
GBIF
5385067
Rank
species
broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae)
Platephotograph · W. Terry HunefeldCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb, Shrub, Subshrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Asteraceae Bercht. & J. Presl
Genus
Gutierrezia
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
140 min.
Precipitation
7–30 in/yr
pH range
6–8
Root depth
16 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
1.5 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
Slight
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Summer
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Rapid
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
225,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Contracting Only
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 48 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/GUSA2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5385067 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z