| Gutierrezia sarothrae | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Astereae |
| Genus: | Gutierrezia |
| Species: | G. sarothrae |
| Binomial name | |
| Gutierrezia sarothrae (Pursh) Britt. & Rusby |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Gutierrezia diversifolia |
|
Gutierrezia sarothrae is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names broom snakeweed and perennial matchweed. It is native to much of the western half of North America, from central Canada to northern Mexico. It can be found in a number of desert, grassland, and mountain habitats.
This is a dense, bushy subshrub reaching maximum heights around a meter. The multibranched stems and twigs are greenish or tan when young and age to woody brown. There are scattered narrow to thready leaves along the branches.
The plant flowers abundantly in inflorescences of a few flowers each. The flower is about a centimeter long and bright golden yellow with a center of a few long, protruding disc florets and a fringe of ray florets. The plant is toxic to livestock in large quantities, due mainly to the presence of saponins and concentrated selenium.
Native Americans on the Great Plains bound the stems together to make brooms. A tea made from the leaves was used to treat rheumatism, stomach ache, and snakebite in humans, and coughs and loose bowels in horses.[1]