Brush - Range & Pasture - Rabbitbrush

BES-TEX BRUSH ID GUIDE

Rabbitbrush

Rubber Rabbitbrush

Ericameria nauseosa

Perennial Woody Brush

Plant Type

Shrub; sunflower family (Asteraceae)

Life Cycle

Perennial; native

Leaf Habit

[PLACEHOLDER]

Typical Height

About 2 to 5 ft (NMSU)

Photo Gallery

Rabbitbrush clump of slender stems topped with yellow flower clusters — **Whole Plant in Flower** Photo: Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Close view of rabbitbrush stem covered in white felt with narrow leaves — **Felt-Covered Stems** Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to Identify It

Quick ID

Stems

Grayish-white, felt-like hairy stems (NMSU)

Leaves

Narrow; crushed leaves smell rubber-like (NMSU)

Flowers

Yellow clusters at the branch tips (NMSU)

Form

Rounded shrub, often along roadsides (NMSU)

Look-Alikes

Broom snakeweed

How to tell it apart from rabbitbrush: [PLACEHOLDER]

Counter script: "If it is a rounded shrub with whitish felty stems, narrow rubbery-smelling leaves, and yellow flower clusters, it is most likely rabbitbrush."

Where It Grows

Texas

[PLACEHOLDER]

Oklahoma

[PLACEHOLDER]

New Mexico

Common on New Mexico rangeland and roadsides (NMSU); detail [PLACEHOLDER]

Sites and soils: [PLACEHOLDER]

Best Time to Control

Best treatment timing for rabbitbrush: [PLACEHOLDER]. Follow the product label.

Rabbitbrush is a woody perennial. No pre-emergent herbicide controls rabbitbrush.

Treatment Methods

Herbicide Options

We did not find a Corteva non-restricted product label or Texas A&M Brush Busters guide that lists rabbitbrush. Call BES-TEX for help choosing a labeled option.
Rates and mixes: follow the label

Individual Plant vs. Broadcast

Density guidance for this plant: [PLACEHOLDER]
Follow the label for broadcast use

Product names are examples only. Always read and follow the product label. For product selection and help, contact BES-TEX at 325.653.1300.

Sources: NMSU (Low Water Plants: Rubber Rabbitbrush; Selected Plants of Navajo Rangelands). NMSU control guidance relies on products outside the allowed list, so no product is named.