Shrub · Asteraceae
Broom snakeweed
Gutierrezia sarothrae
Broom snakeweed is recorded as native to 17 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 462 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Broom snakeweed at a glance
- Native in
- 462 counties, across 17 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Broom snakeweed is recorded as native to 17 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 462 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 462 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 13 counties
- California 10 counties
- Colorado 43 counties
- Idaho 19 counties
- Kansas 52 counties
- Montana 48 counties
- Nebraska 24 counties
- Nevada 9 counties
- New Mexico 31 counties
- North Dakota 36 counties
- Oklahoma 13 counties
- Oregon 10 counties
- South Dakota 20 counties
- Texas 83 counties
- Utah 29 counties
- Washington 3 counties
- Wyoming 19 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
- Forb/herb, Shrub, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 7 to 30 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 6 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 16 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 140
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Early Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- Slight
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Contracting Only
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- GUSA2
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
- Gutierrezia sarothrae (PLANTS symbol GUSA2).
- 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