Virginia Tech Dendrology

blackbrush Rosaceae Coleogyne ramosissima Torr. symbol: CORA
Leaf: Opposite, drought deciduous, linear or club-like, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, entire edges, tightly clustered, gray-green and aromatic.
Flower: Perfect, yellow to yellow-brown, broadly pointed sepals (1/4 inch across and long), typically without petals, appearing singly at ends of branches in early spring.
Fruit: Crescent to ovate shaped, chestnut brown achenes, 1/8 to 1/4 inch long, ripen in early summer.
Twig: Stiff, gray (darker when wet), darkening with age and often ending in a spine; many branched twigs.
Bark: Dark gray to nearly black with, shallow, lighter gray fissures.
Form: Low, spreading bush with a rounded, dense crown reaching 1 to 5 feet in height.
Looks like: four-wing saltbush - shadscale - greasewood - white ratany

Additional Range Information: Coleogyne ramosissima is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDAFS FEIS Silvics - USDA Plants Database
All material 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information