Rabbitbrush is a rather plain looking bush until late summer and early fall. At that point the entire bush turns yellow and in some places with dense populations of rabbitbrush fields of yellow can result. This is especially interesting since rabbitbrush tends to grow in dry areas and even after a dry summer rabbitbrush will reliably bloom. The problem with rabbitbrush is that there are several species which are difficult to distinguish and to makes things even more complicated there are two closely related genera: Ericameria and Chrysothamnus. In fact, two genera, Ericameria nauseosa and Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus are extremely similar in appearance and they often grow side by side! There are a few differences, but they are mostly fairly subtle and not apparent at all times during the life cycles of the two plants.