Sagebrush

low, bitter, shrubby plants of the composite family. Botanically, they are known as artemesia. They are closely allied to wormwood, southernwood, and the common mugworts of old fields. Extensive tracts in the great plains of the West are covered with this monotonous, homely shrub, through which the traveler sees an occasional coyote slinking away. The common sagebrush is a gray, shabby bush, reaching an extreme height of twelve feet. Occasionally a gnarly old stem attains a diameter of several inches.