Shrub · Asteraceae
Boreal sagebrush
Artemisia arctica
Boreal sagebrush is recorded as native to 6 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 53 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Boreal sagebrush at a glance
- Native in
- 53 counties, across 6 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 1a PLANTS minimum temperature −62°F
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Not recorded Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 1a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −62°F; zone 1a winters bottom out at −60°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Boreal sagebrush is recorded as native to 6 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 53 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 53 where it is listed.
- Fresno County, CA
- Tulare County, CA
- Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, AK
- Placer County, CA
- Bethel Census Area, AK
- Snohomish County, WA
- El Dorado County, CA
- Siskiyou County, CA
- Okanogan County, WA
- Boulder County, CO
- Larimer County, CO
- Anchorage Municipality, AK
- Plumas County, CA
- Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK
- Lake and Peninsula Borough, AK
Native counties by state
- Alaska 22 counties
- California 10 counties
- Colorado 11 counties
- Utah 2 counties
- Washington 5 counties
- Wyoming 3 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Not recorded
- Growth form
- Not recorded
- Shape
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Not recorded
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Not recorded
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Not recorded
- Precipitation range
- 10 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7.7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Not recorded
- Salinity tolerance
- Not recorded
- Fertility requirement
- Not recorded
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −62°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 1a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Not recorded
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Not recorded
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Not recorded
Other
- Toxicity
- Moderate
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Not recorded
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ARAR9
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Artemisia arctica (PLANTS symbol ARAR9).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources