Sweetwater County Plant ID Field Trip

By Bryan Christensen, USDA-NRCS Rangeland Management Specialist.

Sandy ecological site. Common plants: Wyoming big sagebrush, spiny hopsage, needleandthread and Idian ricegrass.

Grayia spinosa. GRSP.
spiny hopsage
Hesperostipa comata. HECO26.
Needle and thread grass














Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis. ARTRW8.
Wyoming big sagebrush
Elymus lanceolatus ssp. lanceolatus. ELLAL
thickspike wheatgrass


Ericameria nauseosa. ERNA10
rubber rabitbrush




Opuntia polyacantha. OPPO
plains pricklypear cactus


Saline upland ecological site. Gardners saltbush and/or winterfat and shadscale.


Atriplex gardneri. ATGA.
Gardner's saltbush


Picrothamnus desertorum. PIDE4. bud sagebrush.


Halogeton glomeratus. HAGL.


halogeton in disturbed barren habitat










*This herb is a pest on rangelands in the western United States. It has a high oxalate content, making it toxic to livestock; especially to sheep. The oxalate causes acute hypocalcemia in the sheep, causing them to stagger, spam, and finally die.

Tetradymia spinosa Hook. & Arn. TESP2.
shortspine horsebrush

Krascheninnikovia lanata. KRLA2. winterfat
Atriplex confertifolia. ATCO
shadscale











Saline lowland, drained ecological site. Greasewood, Gardner's saltbush, alkali sacaton, squirreltail, Indian ricegrass and sandberg bluegrass.

Sarcobatus vermiculatus. SAVE4.
greasewood

















Loamy ecological site.
Sandy loam surface: Wyoming big sage, Indian ricegrass, needle and thread, and Sandberg bluegrass.
Without sandy loam surface: Wyoming big sage, Indian ricegrass, Sandberg bluegrass, and thickspike wheatgrass.



Elymus lanceolatus ssp. lanceolatus. ELLAL. thickspike wheatgrass.



Agropyron cristatum. AGCR.
crested wheatgrass















Phlox hoodii. PHHO. hoods phlox.



Overflow ecological site. Basing big sagebrush, rubber rabbitbrush, basin wildrye, and sandberg bluegrass.


Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata. ARTRT
basin big sagebrush