leaves |
flowers |
fruit |
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General
Description:
Erect, grayish-barked shrub, 3-12
dm tall, much branched, often twigs are spiny; herbaceous parts scurfy; evergreen
leaves spatulate to oblanceolate; fruiting bracts most often reddish, varying
to greenish-white
Distribution:
East of the Cascades - Eastern Washington southward to southern California and
Arizona eastward to southwest Montana, Western Colorado and Wyoming.
Habitat:
Grows in alkaline soil areas.
Other:
Some members of this genus are used as flavoring, ashes for a substitute for
baking powder, to color cornmeal, achenes can be ground into meal; evergreen
leaves make it a valued landscaping plant.