G. microcephala was first named Brachyris microcephala by Augustin de Candolle in 1836 from a collection made by Berlandier in Mexico.  Asa Gray renamed the plant Gutierrezia microcephala in 1849.

Gutierrezia sarothrae (Gutierrezia), Petradoria pumila (Rock Goldenrod), and the various species of Chrysothamnus and Ericameria (Rabbitbrushes) are often difficult to tell apart. Click for some assistance.

Semi-desert, foothills. Openings, roadsides. Summer, fall.
Big Spring Trail, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, September 10, 2005 and
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, August 9, 2019 and March 9, 2017.

Gutierrezia sarothrae spreads widely over many acres of land.  At flowering time it imparts a golden tint to Canyon Country sands. Dried floral parts persist through the winter so, as the third photograph above shows, Gutierrezia sarothrae is still very conspicuous long after its flowers are gone.

Gutierrezia sarothrae is often regarded as a non-native weed, but it is not. It is a native and lovely plant. When you see beautiful expanses of Gutierrezia it is often because cattle have been on that land and reeked havoc with the natural plant community.  Since cattle do not eat Gutierrezia, when the cattle over-graze other plants they make room for Gutierrezia to spread. 

Gutierrezia sarothrae is often confused with Petradoria pumila which also puts on a massive display of yellow clusters of flowers, but the latter usually blooms earlier in June and July, is not woody, is shorter in more cylindrical clusters, and has much longer leaves and more golden flowers. Click to see a comparison of Gutierrezia, Petradoria, and Ericameria, three species which can be difficult to separate, especially when the three are young.

Semi-desert, foothills. Openings, roadsides. Summer, fall.
Big Spring Trail, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, September 10, 2005.

Lower leaves on both species of Gutierrezia shown on this page are often withered at flowering time. Flowers are clustered tightly at the top of the plant. The top photograph at left shows a plant many years old, over fifteen inches tall, and thirty inches in diameter. The next photograph shows a young, very vigorous plant just a few years old with the previous year's dried flower stems still showing but many more flower stems from the most recent year.

As indicated above, Gutierrezia sarothrae was first collected for science by Meriwether Lewis along the Missouri River in 1804 and was named Solidago sarothrae by Pursh in 1814. It was also named Gutierrezia linearifolia by the Spanish botanist La Gasca, who originated the Gutierrezia genus. In 1857 the plant was renamed Gutierrezia sarothrae by Britton and Rusby. "Sarothrae" is from the Greek, "sarotron", meaning "broom".

Semi-desert, foothills. Openings, roadsides. Summer, fall.
Big Spring Trail, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, September 10, 2005.  Prairie Dog Knoll, Abajo Mountains, Utah, August 17, 2009. Butler Canyon, Utah, August 27, 2007.

Flowers often do not look as uniform and symmetrical as shown at left or in the first photograph immediately below. The second photograph below shows varying stages of flowerhead development: the flower cluster at top left has both ray and disk flowers; the two largest flower clusters below that one have only disk flowers. What appear to be rays on the disk flowers are just lobes on the disk flower tube.

Semi-desert, foothills. Openings, roadsides. Summer, fall.
Butler Canyon, Utah, August 27, 2007.

Leaves are 2-7 centimeters long and 1-3 millimeters wide and range from mostly linear to lanceolate, to oblanceolate or spatulate. The upper leaves are usually smaller than the lower.

Gutierrezia sarothrae (Broom Snakeweed)
Asteraceae (Sunflower Family)

Semi-desert, foothills. Openings, roadsides. Summer, fall.
Big Spring Trail, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, September 10, 2005 and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, October 21, 2010.

Multiple, leaning stems give rise to a rounded symmetrical crown which is densely covered with bright golden yellow small flowers.  In Canyon Country the golden glow contrasts strikingly with the rich orange soils and dark black/brown of the Cryptobiotic Soil Crust, the community of lichens and cyanobacteria so fragile, beautiful, and common in Canyon Country.

Gutierrezia sarothrae seedlings, which at first might appear to be some Conifer or Fern seedlings, are a great contrast to the golden shrubs shown above. But almost always, somewhere along the trail their true nature becomes evident when you find some seedlings with one bright yellow Gutierrezia flower at the very tip. 

Typically one finds a scattering of seedlings, but warm temperatures and abundant moisture in the late summer and fall of 2010 produced a prodigious number of Gutierrezia sarothrae seedlings.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Gutierrezia microcephala

Range map for Gutierrezia sarothrae