Gutierrezia sarothrae (Pursh) Britt. & Rusby, Asteraceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 15 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Gutierrezia diversifolia Greene; Solidago sarothrae Pursh; Xanthocephalum sarothrae (Pursh) Shinners

Common name(s): [more details]

English: broom snakeweed, broomweed, kindlingweed, matchbrush, matchweed, perennial snakeweed, snakeweed, stinkweed, turpentine weed, yellow top

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Subshrubs, 10-60 (-100) cm. Stems minutely hispidulous. Leaves: basal and proximal absent at flowering; cauline blades 1- or 3-nerved, linear to lanceolate, sometimes filiform and fascicled, 1.5-2 (-3) mm wide, little reduced distally. Heads (sessile to subsessile in compact glomerules) in dense, flat-topped, corymbiform arrays. Involucres cylindric to cuneate-campanulate, 1.5-2 (-3) mm in diameter. Phyllary apices flat. Ray florets (2-) 3-8; corollas yellow, 3-5.5 mm. Disc florets (2-) 3-9 (usually bisexual and fertile, rarely functionally staminate, corollas tubular-funnelform, lobes erect to spreading or recurved, deltate). Cypselae 0.8-1.6 (-2.2) mm, faces without oil cavities, densely strigoso-sericeous; pappi of 1-2 series of narrowly oblong- to ovate-lanceolate or obovate scales (readily falling, those of discs 1/3-1/2 corollas, shorter on rays)"  (Flora of North America online).

Habitat/ecology:  In North America, "grasslands, commonly on rocky, open slopes; 50-2900 m"  (Flora of North America online).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  North America (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Washington)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Canada Canada	Canada	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013) Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Control: 

Physical:  "Cattle Grazing as a Biological Control for Broom Snakeweed: Vegetation Response".

Chemical:  Control information from the Pacific Northwest Weed Handbook.

Abstract "Broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae) control with picloram and metsulfuron": "Picloram (4-amino-3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridine-carboxylic acid) and metsulfuron {2-[[[[(4-methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)amino]carbonyl]amino]sulfonyl]benzoic acid} were applied to broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae [Pursh.] Britt. and Rusby # GUESA) on two spring dates and three fall dates from October 1983 to 1985. Applications of picloram and metsulfuron in the fall more effectively controlled broom snakeweed than applications in the spring. Lower herbicide rates were necessary for 90% or greater control on a sandy loam than on a silty clay loam. Grass yield increased significantly the first, second, and third growing seasons when a majority of the broom snakeweed were killed by either herbicide, but was not different from untreated rangeland when less than 50% of the plants were killed. Reduction in broom snakeweed densities of 90% or greater following applications of picloram or metsulfuron resulted in 3- to 5-fold increases in the estimated carrying capacity of rangeland in east-central New Mexico".