Characteristics:

Gray rabbit-brush is a low to mostly tall shrub covered with soft, gray, felt-like and dense hairs. The general shape of this shrub is open to rounded- or flat-topped. Plants range to 2 meters tall. The numerous, erect stems are covered with persistent, dense hairs, giving the stem a grayish, felt-like appearance(thus giving the plant its name).

The leaves are linear with entire margins. Individual leaves are 2-7 cm long and about 0.5-3 mm wide. The leaves are tomentose to almost smooth, and are not twisted.

Yellow flower heads in cymose clusters of about 5 flowers each. Flower heads are discoid and narrow. The disk corollas are mostly 6.5-11 mm long. Gray rabbit-brush flowers in late summer to fall.

Open dry place in the valleys, plains, and foothills, occasionally extending to moderate elevation in the mountains.

From southern British Columbia south along the eastern edge of the Cascades to southern California, east to Saskatchewan and hence south to Texas and northern Mexico.

In the Columbia River Gorge, Ericmaeria nauseosa var. speciosa is found between the elevations of 100-600' from approximately Mosier, OR east towards Wallula Gap.

Gray Rabbitbrush is a potential source for rubber. The flowers are grazed by wildlife and livestock in fall. The twigs are browsed by both pronghorn and mule deer, while the leaves are eaten by rabbits. This plant may be an aggressive weed on heavily grazed sites, and may also be found on disturbed fill slopes along roadways in the sage-grass steppe. Due to its silvery foliage, yellow flowers, and tendancy to draw butterflies and other pollinating insects, I believe it would also make a dandy shrub for the naturalized garden in areas east of the Cascade Mts. I can't attest for its resistance to wildfire, so plant it away from buildings and don't plant it under trees!