Larrea tridentata

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Creosote bush
Larrea tridentata Furnace Creek.jpg
Sprig with flower buds, flowers and fruit at Furnace Creek in Death Valley N.P.
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Zygophyllales
Family: Zygophyllaceae
Genus: Larrea
Species:
L. tridentata
Binomial name
Larrea tridentata
Larrea tridentata range map.jpg
   natural range

Larrea tridentata, called creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, [2] chaparral as a medicinal herb, [3] and gobernadora (Spanish for "governess") in Mexico, due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants.[ citation needed ] In Sonora, it is more commonly called hediondilla; [4] Spanish hediondo = "smelly".

Contents

It is a flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae. The specific name tridentata refers to its three-toothed leaves. [5]

Distribution

L. tridentata in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Larrea tridentata Anza-Borrego.jpg
L. tridentata in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Larrea tridentata is a prominent species in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts of western North America, and its range includes those and other regions in portions of southeastern California, Arizona, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States, and Chihuahua, Sonora, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Zacatecas, Durango and San Luis Potosì in Mexico. The species grows as far east as Zapata County, Texas, along the Rio Grande southeast of Laredo near the 99th meridian west. [6]

Description

Stages of creosote flower development, from bud (left) to fruit and seeds (right) Creosote Bush Flower Stages.jpg
Stages of creosote flower development, from bud (left) to fruit and seeds (right)

Larrea tridentata is an evergreen shrub growing to 1 to 3 m (3 to 10 ft) tall, rarely 4 m (13 ft). The light gray stems of the plant bear resinous, dark green leaves with two opposite lanceolate leaflets joined at the base, with a deciduous awn between them, each leaflet 7 to 18 mm (1⁄4 to 11⁄16 in) long and 4 to 8.5 mm (5⁄32 to 11⁄32 in) broad. The flowers are up to 25 mm (1 in) in diameter, with five yellow petals. The fruit is a brown-burgundy spherical, fuzzy capsule, which separates into five individual carpels each containing one seed. [7] Galls may form by the activity of the creosote gall midge. The whole plant exhibits a characteristic odor of creosote, from which the common name derives. [8] In the regions where it grows, its smell is often associated with the "smell of rain". [9]

Ecology

These animals eat creosote bush:

The Arabian camel, brought to the area by the United States Camel Corps, readily ate creosote bush. It is thought that this meeting reestablished a biological relationship that was broken when the American camels became extinct in the Quaternary Extinction Event, making it an evolutionary anachronism. [12]

Oldest plants

King Clone, the 11,700-year-old creosote bush ring in the Mojave Desert King Clone.jpg
King Clone, the 11,700-year-old creosote bush ring in the Mojave Desert

As the creosote bush grows older, its oldest branches eventually die and its crown splits into separate crowns. This normally happens when the plant is 30 to 90 years old. Eventually, the old crown dies and the new ones become a clonal colony from the previous plant, composed of many separate stems all from the same seed. The cloned individuals sometimes form a "ring" around the original plant, which may no longer be visible. [13]

King Clone

The "King Clone" creosote ring is one of the oldest living organisms on Earth. It has been alive an estimated 11,700 years, in the central Mojave Desert near present-day Lucerne Valley, California. This single clonal colony plant of L. tridentata reaches up to 20 m (67 ft) in diameter, with an average diameter of 14 m (45 ft). [14] [15] [16]

King Clone was identified and its age estimated by Frank Vasek, a professor at the University of California, Riverside. Measurements of the plant, as well as radiocarbon dating of wood fragments, were used to determine the plant's mean annual growth rate outward from the center of the ring. By measuring the diameter of the ring, its total age could be estimated. [16] [17] It is within the Creosote Rings Preserve of the Lucerne Valley and Johnson Valley. [16]

Large creosote bush, Death Valley Creosote-bush Larrea tridentata.jpg
Large creosote bush, Death Valley

Habitat

Creosote bush is most common on the well-drained soils of alluvial fans and flats. In parts of its range, it may cover large areas in practically pure stands, though it usually occurs in association with Ambrosia dumosa (burro bush or bur-sage). [18] Chemicals found in creosote bush roots have been shown to inhibit the growth of burro bush roots, [19] but as of 2013, much of their relationship remains unexplained.

Creosote bush stands tend to display an evenly spaced distribution of plants. [20] Originally, [ citation needed ] it was assumed that the plant produced a water-soluble inhibitor that prevented the growth of other bushes near mature, healthy bushes. Now, however, it has been shown [ citation needed ] that the root systems of mature creosote plants are simply so efficient at absorbing water that fallen seeds nearby cannot accumulate enough water to germinate, effectively creating dead zones around every plant. [21]

Desert adaptation

A young L. tridentata plant Creosote Larrea tridentata.JPG
A young L. tridentata plant

Owing to the harshness of the germination environment above mature root systems, young creosote bushes are much more susceptible to drought stress than established plants. Germination is quite active during wet periods, but most of the young plants die very quickly unless water conditions are optimal. Ground heat compounds the young plants' susceptibility to water stress, and ground temperatures can reach upwards of 70 °C (160 °F). To become established, the young plant apparently must experience three to five years of abnormally cool and moist weather during and after germination. From this, it can be inferred that all the plants inside a stand are of equal age.

Mature plants, however, can tolerate extreme drought stress. In terms of negative water potential, creosote bushes can operate fully at −50 bars of water potential and have been found living down to −120 bars, although the practical average floor is around −70 bars, where the plant's need for cellular respiration generally exceeds the level that the water-requiring process of photosynthesis can provide. Cell division can occur during these times of water stress, and new cells commonly quickly absorb water after rainfall. This rapid uptake causes branches to grow several centimeters at the end of a wet season.

Water loss is reduced by the resinous waxy coating of the leaves, and by their small size, which prevents them from heating above air temperature (which would increase the vapor pressure deficit between the leaf and the air, thus increasing water loss). Plants drop some leaves heading into summer, but if all leaves are lost, the plant will not recover. Accumulation of fallen leaves, as well as other detritus caught from the passing wind, creates an ecological community specific to the creosote bush canopy, including beetles, millipedes, pocket mice, and kangaroo rats.

Uses

An L. tridentata flower Larrea tridentata 3.jpg
An L. tridentata flower

Native American medicinals

Native Americans in the Southwest held beliefs that it treated many maladies, including sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, chicken pox, dysmenorrhea, and snakebite. [22] The Coahuilla Indians used the plant for intestinal complaints and tuberculosis. The Pima drank a decoction of the leaves as an emetic, and applied the boiled leaves as poultices to wounds or sores. [23] Tohono O'odham Indians prepared it medicinally for stiff limbs, snake bites, and menstrual cramps. [24] The shrub is still widely used as an herbal medicine in Mexico. [25]

In other uses, the reddish-colored lac that exudes from the plant was used by the Tohono O'odham, after boiling, to make a mending glue on broken pottery. [26]

Herbal supplements and toxicity

Larrea tridentata is often referred to as chaparral when used as a herbal remedy and supplement; however, it does not grow in the synonymous plant community chaparral. [27] The United States Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings about the health hazards of ingesting chaparral or using it as an internal medicine, and discourages its use. [28] In 2005, Health Canada issued a warning to consumers to avoid using the leaves of Larrea species because of the risk of damage to the liver and kidneys. [29]

Cancer Research UK states: "We don't recommend that you take chaparral to treat or prevent any type of cancer." [30]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaparral</span> Shrubland plant community in western North America

Chaparral is a shrubland plant community found primarily in California, in southern Oregon and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate and infrequent, high-intensity crown fires.

<i>Larrea</i> Genus of shrubs

Larrea is a genus of flowering plants in the caltrop family, Zygophyllaceae. It contains five species of evergreen shrubs that are native to the Americas. The generic name honours Bishop Juan Antonio Hernández Pérez de Larrea, a patron of science. South American members of this genus are known as jarillas and can produce fertile interspecific hybrids. One of the more notable species is the creosote bush of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The King Clone ring in the Mojave Desert is a creosote bush clonal colony estimated to be about 11,700 years old.

<i>Artemisia tridentata</i> Species of plant

Artemisia tridentata, commonly called big sagebrush, Great Basin sagebrush or (locally) simply 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Clone</span> Ancient clonal colony of creosote bush in the Mojave Desert

King Clone is thought to be the oldest creosote bush ring in the Mojave Desert. The ring is estimated to be 11,700 years old, making it one of the oldest living organisms on Earth. This single clonal colony plant of Larrea tridentata reaches up to 67 feet in diameter, with an average diameter of 45 feet (14 m).

<i>Ambrosia dumosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Ambrosia dumosa, the burro-weed or white bursage, a North American species of plants in the family Asteraceae. It is a common constituent of the creosote-bush scrub community throughout the Mojave desert of California, Nevada, and Utah and the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and northwestern Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Methuselah (tree)</span> Bristlecone pine tree in the White Mountains, California

Methuselah is a 4,855-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California. It is recognized as the non-clonal tree with the greatest confirmed age in the world. The tree's name refers to the biblical patriarch Methuselah, who is said to have reached 969 years of age before his death, thus becoming synonymous with longevity or old age in many European languages including English.

<i>Prunus ilicifolia</i> Species of tree

Prunus ilicifolia is native to the chaparral areas of coastal California, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. as well as the desert chaparral areas of the Mojave desert.

<i>Geraea canescens</i> Species of flowering plant

Geraea canescens, commonly known as desert sunflower, hairy desert sunflower, or desert gold, is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae. The genus name comes from the Greek geraios, referring to the white hairs on the fruits.

<i>Ephedra californica</i> Species of seed-bearing shrub

Ephedra californica is a species of Ephedra, known by the common names California jointfir, California ephedra, desert tea, Mormon tea, and cañatillo.

<i>Lycium andersonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Lycium andersonii is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its common names include water-jacket, redberry desert-thorn, Anderson thornbush, Anderson's desert thorn, Anderson boxthorn, Anderson lycium, Anderson wolfberry, and squawberry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Colorado River Valley</span> Landform in Arizona and California

The Lower Colorado River Valley (LCRV) is the river region of the lower Colorado River of the southwestern United States in North America that rises in the Rocky Mountains and has its outlet at the Colorado River Delta in the northern Gulf of California in northwestern Mexico, between the states of Baja California and Sonora. This north–south stretch of the Colorado River forms the border between the U.S. states of California/Arizona and Nevada/Arizona, and between the Mexican states of Baja California/Sonora.

<i>Condea emoryi</i> Species of flowering plant

Condea emoryi, the desert lavender, is a large, multi-stemmed shrub species of flowering plant in Lamiaceae, the mint family.

<i>Sphaeralcea ambigua</i> Species of flowering plant

Sphaeralcea ambigua, is a species of flowering plant commonly known as desert globemallow or apricot mallow, is a member of the genus Sphaeralcea in the mallow family (Malvaceae).

<i>Ephedra fasciculata</i> Species of seed-bearing shrub

Ephedra fasciculata is a species of plant in the Ephedraceae family. Common names are Arizona ephedra, Arizona jointfir, and desert Mormon-tea.

<i>Purshia glandulosa</i> Species of tree

Purshia glandulosa is a species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names antelope bitterbrush, desert bitterbrush, Mojave antelope brush, and cliff-rose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greasewood</span> Index of plants with the same common name

Greasewood is a common name shared by several plants:

<i>Ambrosia salsola</i> Species of flowering plant

Ambrosia salsola, commonly called cheesebush, winged ragweed, burrobush, white burrobrush, and desert pearl, is a species of perennial shrub in the family Asteraceae native to deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.

Creosote bush scrub is a North American desert vegetation type of sparsely but evenly spaced desert plants dominated by creosote bush and its associates. Its visual characterization is of widely spaced shrubs that are somewhat evenly distributed over flat or relatively flat desert areas that receive between 2 and 8 inches of rain each year. It covers the majority of the flat desert floor and relatively flat alluvial fans in the Mojave Desert, Chihuahuan Desert, and Sonoran Desert. The dominant plants that typify this vegetation type are creosote bush and its associates, white bur-sage, brittlebush, cheese-bush, Mojave yucca, silver cholla cactus, and beavertail cactus. Creosote bush has a wider range than its associates, so codominant shrubs, which are associated with more narrow ranges, will vary from region to region.

<i>Hilaria rigida</i> Species of grass

Hilaria rigida is a species of clumping perennial grass that is widespread in California deserts. It is commonly known as big galleta. It is a monocot in the Hilaria genus of the grass family (Poaceae).

<i>Cuscuta denticulata</i> Species of flowering plant

Cuscuta denticulata, commonly known as desert dodder or small-toothed dodder, is a thin, yellow to orange, parasitic annual vine in the morning glory family (Convulvulaceae), native to the deserts of the south-western United States and northern Mexico.

References

  1. ↑ "Larrea tridentata". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  2. ↑ Peter Bigfoot (2011). "Chaparral". Peter Bigfoot's Useful Wild Western Plants. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  3. ↑ Moore, M. (1989). Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West. Santa Fe, NM: Museum of New Mexico Press. pp. 27–32. ISBN   978-0-8901-3181-7.
  4. ↑ Felger, R. S.; Moser, M. B. (1985). People of the Desert and Sea - Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians . Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. ISBN   978-0-8165-1267-6.
  5. ↑ "Larrea tridentata". Southwestern Environmental Information Network (SEINet).
  6. ↑ "Brush". The Vegetation Types of Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife Service.
  7. ↑ "Larrea tridentata (Chaparral, Creosote Bush, Greasewood) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox". plants.ces.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  8. ↑ "Larrea tridentata". The Jepson Manual. Berkeley, CA: University of California. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  9. ↑ "What is that smell before it rains?". The Arizona Republic. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  10. 1 2 Lemm, Jeffrey.(2006) Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of the San Diego Region (California Natural History Guides). University of California Press.
  11. ↑ "What Eats a Creosote Bush?".
  12. ↑ THE US ARMY'S CAMEL CORPS by C. F. Eckhardt
  13. ↑ "Creosote Bush". US National Park Service. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  14. ↑ Vasek, F. C. (February 1980). "Creosote Bush: Long-Lived Clones in the Mojave Desert". American Journal of Botany. 67 (2): 246–255. doi:10.2307/2442649. JSTOR   2442649.
  15. ↑ Weiser, M. "The oldest living thing is a quiet survivor". High Country News. Archived from the original on 25 May 2006. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  16. 1 2 3 Rodrigue, F. "Creosote Rings Preserve - Larrea tridentata - Creosote bush". Lucerne Valley Community Website. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  17. ↑ Schoenherr, A. A. (1995). A Natural History of California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p.  14. ISBN   978-0-520-06922-0.
  18. ↑ Marshall, K. Anna (1995). "Larrea tridentata". Fire Effects Information System. U. S. Forest Service.
  19. ↑ Mahall, Bruce E.; Callaway, Ragan M. (February 1991). "Root communication among desert shrubs". PNAS . 88 (3): 874–876. Bibcode:1991PNAS...88..874M. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.3.874 . PMC   50916 . PMID   11607151.
  20. ↑ Phillips, Donald L.; MacMahon, James A. (March 1981). "Competition and spacing patterns in desert shrubs". Journal of Ecology . 69 (1): 97–115. doi:10.2307/2259818. JSTOR   2259818.
  21. ↑ Schoenherr, A. (1992). A natural history of California. Berkeley: University of California. p. 404.
  22. ↑ "Larrea tridentata (Sesse' and Moc. ex DC.) Coville - Creosote Bush" (PDF). US Forest Service. February 2016.
  23. ↑ United States Herbarium (1890). Contributions from the United States National Herbarium. Vol. 23. Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 521.
  24. ↑ Bowers, Janice; Wignall, Brian (1993). Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Deserts. Arizona: Western National Parks Association. p. 104.
  25. ↑ Arteaga S; Andrade-Cetto A; Cárdenas R (April 2005). "Larrea tridentata (Creosote bush), an abundant plant of Mexican and US-American deserts and its metabolite nordihydroguaiaretic acid". J Ethnopharmacol. 98 (3): 231–9. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2005.02.002. PMID   15814253.
  26. ↑ Fontana, Bernard L.; Robinson, William J.; Cormack, Charles W.; Leavitt, Earnest E. (1962). Papago Indian Pottery. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press, on behalf of the American Ethnological Society. p. 81. OCLC   869680.
  27. ↑ Nabhan, G. P. (1993). Gathering the Desert. University of Arizona Press. p. 16. ISBN   978-0-8165-1014-6. ...health food stores have been marketing Larrea as a cure-all that they whimsically called "chaparral tea" – the plant never grows above the desert in true chaparral vegetation.
  28. ↑ Tilford, G. L. (1997). Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing. ISBN   978-0-87842-359-0.
  29. ↑ "Health Canada warns consumers not to take products containing chaparral". Health Canada. 21 December 2005.
  30. ↑ "Chaparral". Cancer Research UK. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
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