Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A shrub (Pushia tridentata) of the rose family found in western North America, having bitter-tasting leaves and often browsed by deer, elk, and pronghorn.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any member of the genus Purshia of flowering shrubs, native to western North America.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

bitter +‎ brush

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Examples

  • At the base of the mountains, on the gentle rocky slopes called bajadas, the vegetation is dominated by paloverde, ocotillo, and saguaro, but bitterbrush is also a common shrub.

    American Semidesert and Desert Province (Bailey) 2009

  • Understory vegetation varies with elevation; at lower elevations, antelope bitterbrush is important winter browse for deer.

    Ecoregions of Oregon (EPA) 2009

  • Ecoregion 13aa differs from the Lahontan Sagebrush Slopes (13k) in that plants with slightly higher moisture requirements, such as antelope bitterbrush and desert peach, may be associated with the semiarid shrub community, especially near the Sierra Nevada front.

    Ecoregions of Nevada (EPA) 2009

  • Other important plants in the sagebrush belt are antelope bitterbrush, shadscale, fourwing saltbush, rubber rabbitbrush, spiny hopsage, horsebrush, and short-statured Gambel oak.

    Intermountain Semidesert and Desert Province (Bailey) 2009

  • Western juniper grows on shallow, rocky soils with an understory of low sagebrush, big sagebrush, bitterbrush, and bunchgrasses.

    Ecoregions of Oregon (EPA) 2009

  • Mountain mahogany and bitterbrush provide winter cover and forage for mule deer.

    Ecoregions of Oregon (EPA) 2009

  • The understory includes sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, and a fire-maintained chaparral component of snowbrush and manzanita.

    Ecoregions of Nevada (EPA) 2009

  • Many are dominated by grasses, but some are covered largely by sagebrush and other shrubs, such as antelope bitterbrush.

    Southern Rocky Mountain Steppe - OpenWoodland - Coniferous Forest - Alpine Meadow Province (Bailey) 2009

  • Rodents, songbirds, and upland game birds also use the fruits of bitterbrush.

    Ecoregions of Oregon (EPA) 2009

  • The Subarus tires whined along the asphalt, a stray gray thread in the khaki weavesage and hardpan, cheatgrass and bitterbrush.

    Burned Ellen Hopkins 2008

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