Flora report: Antelope Bitterbrush

The antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) is native to Wyoming. Besides the name antelope bitterbrush, it can be called antelope brush, buck brush, quinine brush, grease wood, deer brush and black brush. An average antelope bitterbrush is one to five meters tall. It is a nitrogen fixing shrub that lives in the western part of North America and their flower color is white. Nitrogen fixing is when atmospheric nitrogen is taken from its original state and converted into nitrogen compounds such as nitrogen dioxide and ammonia. This is important because plants cannot use atmospheric nitrogen and they need the bacteria like ammonia and nitrogen dioxide so this further expands the antelope bitterbrush’s niche. This particular bush is one of the extremely of weather changes, especially droughts. It thrives in dry conditions with little water often living on bare ground. This is also beneficial because antelope bitterbrush bushes have high sunlight requirements. These sunlight requirements make the antelope bitterbrushes live in bare-ground conditions and the presence of species that block their sun would outcompete the antelope bitterbrushes and kill the population. Seeds from the bushes provide a food source for a variety of organisms such as squirrels and birds. Plants benefit from squirrels and birds because they must spread the seeds around and make the population grow. A few niches that an antelope bitterbrush bush can create are food for birds, food for squirrels and webs for spiders. Another niche, although not natural, is that the antelope bitterbrush is used for cough medicine.