Blackbrush                         kol-ee-O-jin-ee ram-o-SIS-si-ma

• Broadleaf evergreen, but a drought-deciduous shrub, about 1-4 ft (0.3-1.2 m) tall, aromatic, highly branched and branches spine tipped, ashy gray, turn black with age.  Leaves simple, in opposite clusters, linear- oblanceolate, 1-2 cm long, margins smooth.  Flowers single, lack petals but have 4 yellow sepals, each about 8 mm, often reddish outside, 30-40 stamens.  Fruit is a small, 3-4 mm, cresent shaped, brown achene.
• Sun, dry and well-drained soils.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 5?         It grows in the transition zone between warm and cold deserts of southern California, southern Nevada, southern Utah, northern Arizona, and southwestern Colorado; found at elevations between 2,500-6,500 ft (760-1,980 m).  Sometimes forms nearly pure stands over large areas.
• Blackbrush: "The dark gray bark makes this intrically branched shrub appear black from a distance, creating a rather somber landscape" (Bowers, 1993).
• ramosissima: much branched.