Blackbush scrub,[1] or blackbrush scrub,[2] is a vegetation type of the Western United States deserts characterized by low growing, dark gray blackbush (Coleogyne ramosissima) as the dominant species.[1] [2] Blackbush often occurs in pure stands, giving a uniform dark gray appearance to the landscape.[1]
Blackbrush scrub occurs over a wide elevation range in the Mojave Desert.[1] It may occur as an understory in Joshua tree woodland or pinyon-juniper woodland.[1] Associates in the Mojave Desert include ephedra (Ephedra nevadensis, Ephedra viridis), hop-sage Grayia spinosa, turpentine broom (Thamnosma montana), horsebrush (Tedradymia spp.), cheesebush (Ambrosia salsola), and winter fat (Krascheninnikovia lanata).[1]
In the Colorado Plateau, it occurs across uniformly thin soils.[2]