rabbitbrush
noun
rab·bit·brush
ˈra-bət-ˌbrəsh 
variants
or less commonly rabbit brush
or rabbit bush
: any of various shrubby composite plants (genera Chrysothamnus, Ericameria, and Lorandersonia) of western North America that have narrow leaves and clusters of small, typically yellow flowers, and that are tolerant of dry, poor, alkaline soils
Examples of rabbitbrush in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Compared to the desolate, almost alien landscape of South Dakota, the North Dakota badlands are flush with vibrant vegetation: Rocky Mountain juniper woodlands, cottonwoods that thrive in the Little Missouri River basin, and sunflowers, asters, and rabbitbrush that bloom in the late summer months.
—
Erica Zazo, Outside Online, 9 Jan. 2025
Residents in those states looking to help native pollinators can join their local Bumble Bee Atlas chapter or fill their gardens with native flowers such as thistles, milkweed, sunflowers and rabbitbrush to provide more food to these busy bees.
—Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2024
Do not plant highly flammable shrubs and trees, not even dwarf varieties in an urban environment, especially arborvitae, bamboo, broom, cedar, cypress, juniper, pampas grass, rabbitbrush or sagebrush.
—Jeastman, oregonlive, 11 Sep. 2023
Dotted here and there are clumps of creosote and sagebrush, interrupted occasionally by splashes of yellow rabbitbrush.
—Scott Gilbertson, WIRED, 28 Mar. 2023
Perched on a broad alluvial fan dotted with rabbitbrush and Joshua trees, this ragtag community of artists, misanthropes and urban refugees has little time for politicians.
—Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2022
Every traveler who passes through the park encounters a panorama ruled by geology, where rabbitbrush, raven and rock art are accents, where the layers of earth history overwhelm every other element of the scenery.
—The Salt Lake Tribune, 21 Oct. 2021
The route cuts through acres of rabbitbrush and past forests thick with pines.
—Pauly Denetclaw, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 July 2021
Healthy swaths of silvery rabbitbrush, mountain gromwell, penstemons, Rocky Mountain beeplant and Apache plume add color and sink stabilizing roots into the fragile soils.
—Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 21 Aug. 2020
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Erica Zazo, Outside Online, 9 Jan. 2025
Residents in those states looking to help native pollinators can join their local Bumble Bee Atlas chapter or fill their gardens with native flowers such as thistles, milkweed, sunflowers and rabbitbrush to provide more food to these busy bees.
—Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2024
Do not plant highly flammable shrubs and trees, not even dwarf varieties in an urban environment, especially arborvitae, bamboo, broom, cedar, cypress, juniper, pampas grass, rabbitbrush or sagebrush.
—Jeastman, oregonlive, 11 Sep. 2023
Dotted here and there are clumps of creosote and sagebrush, interrupted occasionally by splashes of yellow rabbitbrush.
—Scott Gilbertson, WIRED, 28 Mar. 2023
Perched on a broad alluvial fan dotted with rabbitbrush and Joshua trees, this ragtag community of artists, misanthropes and urban refugees has little time for politicians.
—Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2022
Every traveler who passes through the park encounters a panorama ruled by geology, where rabbitbrush, raven and rock art are accents, where the layers of earth history overwhelm every other element of the scenery.
—The Salt Lake Tribune, 21 Oct. 2021
The route cuts through acres of rabbitbrush and past forests thick with pines.
—Pauly Denetclaw, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 July 2021
Healthy swaths of silvery rabbitbrush, mountain gromwell, penstemons, Rocky Mountain beeplant and Apache plume add color and sink stabilizing roots into the fragile soils.
—Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 21 Aug. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Rabbitbrush.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rabbitbrush. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.
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