sagebrush

noun

1. any of several sagelike, bushy composite plants of the genus Artemisia, especially A. tridentata, having silvery, wedge-shaped leaves, with three teeth at the tip, common on the dry plains of the western U.S.

noun

1. any of several aromatic plants of the genus Artemisia, esp A. tridentata, a shrub of W North America, having silver-green leaves and large clusters of small white flowers: family Asteraceae (composites)

n.1850, from sage (n.1), to which it has no biological affinity, + brush (n.2). Said to be so called for resemblance of its appearance or odor. Sage-brush is very fair fuel, but as a vegetable it is a distinguished failure. Nothing can abide the taste of it but the jackass and his illegitimate child, the mule. [“Mark Twain,” “Roughing It”]