Sagebrush

Artimesia or sagebrush is really a long list of individual species, many of which have a similar appearance. In many places in the Western United States, sagebrush is the dominant plant species and some writers have referred to the area as a "sagebrush sea." The most common of these species is probably Artemisia tridentata or the Great Basin sagebrush shown in the image above. Here is a description of the plant from the article Wikipedia: Artemisia tridentata.

Artemisia tridentata, commonly called big sagebrush, Great Basin sagebrush or sagebrush, is an aromatic shrub from the family Asteraceae, which grows in arid and semi-arid conditions, throughout a range of cold desert, steppe, and mountain habitats in the Intermountain West of North America. The vernacular name "sagebrush" is also used for several related members of the genus Artemisia, such as California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica). 

Big Sagebrush and other Artemisia shrubs are the dominant plant species across large portions of the Great Basin. The range extends northward through British Columbia's southern interior, south into Baja California, and east into the western Great Plains of New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, and the Dakotas.