SPECIES

HABITAT

GROWTH FORM

LIFE SPAN

PALAT.

(1)

PUF

(2)

GRAZING

(3)

FIRE

(4)

REMARKS

SHRUBS AND TREES

Amelanchier alnifolia

Saskatoon

varies widely; dry sunny slopes to shaded forest

dense shrub or small tree

deciduous

P

good; browsed mostly in fall

decreaser

fairly tolerant; temporarily setback; suckers after fire

moderate grazing can improve stands through branching; important game

Artemisia frigida

Pasture sage

widespread; especially in grassland and ponderosa pine zones

short half-shrub

P

poor

increaser

highly variable response

abundance indicates overgrazed range

Artemisia tridentata

Big Sagebrush

grassland; well drained, dry sites

gray-green shrub

P

poor to fair

increaser

easily killed by fire; non-sprouter, reinvades by off-site seed

subspecies vaseyana most flammable; tridentata , intermediate and wyomingensis least

abundance indicates overuse

Chrysothamnus nauseosus

Rubber rabbitbrush

light-textured soils of grassland and ponderosa pine zone

gray-green shrub,

P

almost nil for livestock; utilized by deer on winter ranges

increaser

sensitive to fire; but often resprouts; release from competition after fire often stimulates growth

contains resin which increases burning potential; abundance indicates overuse of range

Cornus stolonifera

Red-osier dogwood

grassland and forest; moist to wet sites

large shrub;

spreading rootstalks

P

poor to fair for cattle

tolerant but decreases with heavy use

increases following fire; top growth usually killed but roots survive

important for deer and moose