Just before the fall foliage starts in Nevada and Eastern California, you might notice small bushes loaded with yellow blooms. These plants are called rabbitbrush, or more specifically rubber rabbitbrush. The plant also goes by gray rabbitbrush, yellow rabbitbrush, or chamisa.
You’ll find it growing along roadsides or covering whole fields and meadows.
When I was first started dating my husband, the first photo he ever took of me was in front of a rabbitbrush bush. From then on, he called me the Rabbitbrush Maiden.
Rabbitbrush blooms from August through October, which is why it often appears in the foreground of fall color photos.
What Is Rabbitbrush?
Rabbitbrush is part of the Aster family (Asteraceae). Bushes are usually two to five-feet tall, but it can reach seven feet. They like poor growing conditions and alkaline soils.
As I know from all the rabbitbrush sprouting up in our yard, the deep root system takes over quickly. It can help improve the quality of the soil since the plants create large amounts of leaf litter, which brings nutrients to the soil surface.
Some people are allergic to rabbitbrush, but since ragweed releases pollen at the same time, and that’s a common allergen, you’d have to be tested to be sure.
What Is Rabbitbrush Used For?
Native Americans took advantage of the bright yellow rabbitbrush flowers to make dye. They also used it for medicinal tea and chewing gum.
During World War II, rabbitbrush was tested as a possible source of rubber. Compounds in the plant may also act as insect repellants. And researchers are looking into the possibility that rabbitbrush can be used as a biomass fuel.
Where Does Rabbitbrush Grow in Nevada?
In Southern Nevada, Mount Charleston boasts a lot of rabbitbrush as you can see by the lead photo on this blog post, provided by professional photographer Cindy van der Velde. You can check out more of her work at cindyvanderveldephotography.com.
In Northern Nevada, it’s pretty much everywhere, but some places where you can find a lot of it include Strawberry Creek Road in Great Basin National Park, Carson Valley, and Pyramid Lake. Strawberry Creek Road had some of the biggest rabbitbrush I’ve ever seen.
Just over the border into California, State Route 88 east of Woodfords Canyon and the east side of Monitor Pass are good places to view rabbitbrush.
