Larrea tridentata
Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- LAR-ee-ah try-den-TAH-tah
- Description
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Creosote bush is an evergreen shrub in the Zygophyllaceae family native to the Chihuahuan, Mojave, and Sonoran Deserts in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
This shrub thrives in hot dry desert climates. It prefers full sun and rocky, well-drained calcerous or sandy soil. The roots are extremely efficient at absorbing and retaining water, and the small leaves are capable of folding in half to reduce water loss during drought. Given these cultural conditions, it may be difficult to cultivate in North Carolina.
Creosote shrub is common throughout its natural range, where it is used ornamentally in xeriscaping. Extreme droughts may induce pure stands of this species. Young leaves are coated in a fragrant oily resin, another adaptation against water loss. Indigenous people use it topically and in tea to treat muscle pain, fever, paralysis, indigestion, and open wounds. Germination rates are low, and it reproduces primarily via cloning. One clonal colony was found to be around 11,700 years old.
- See this plant in the following landscape:
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- Cultivars / Varieties:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Larrea
- Species:
- tridentata
- Family:
- Zygophyllaceae
- Uses (Ethnobotany):
- An important medicine in many indigenous cultures of the desert southwest.
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Central U.S.A. to Mexico
- Distribution:
- Arizona, California, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Perennial
- Growth Rate:
- Slow
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Soil Texture:
- Sand
- Shallow Rocky
- Soil pH:
- Neutral (6.0-8.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Red/Burgundy
- Fruit Length:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Description:
- Fruit is brown-burgundy spherical, fuzzy capsule, which separates into 5 individual carpels each containing one seed.
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Fall
- Spring
- Summer
- Flower Petals:
- 4-5 petals/rays
- Flower Size:
- < 1 inch
- Flower Description:
- Flowers yellow, 5-petaled, solitary from axils, sepals ovoid.
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Leaves:
- Leaf Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Green
- Leaf Feel:
- Waxy
- Leaf Value To Gardener:
- Fragrant
- Leaf Type:
- Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Opposite
- Leaf Margin:
- Dentate
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Description:
- Leaves opposite, compound with 2 weakly tridentate leaflets. Leaflets are oily-resinous with a strong medicinal odor.
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
