Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata) Fresh leaves and twigs 8 oz Chaparral These will be gathered in the Mojave desert at an elevation of 4200ft where they grow a lot bigger. The creosote have a great desert smell an nice year around blooms (Larrea tridentata), known as Creosote Bush is a flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae. It is a prominent species in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts of western North America, including portions of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and western Texas in the United States, and northern Chihuahua in Mexico. In California it is found from Inyo County southward in desert areas only. It is an evergreen shrub growing to 1-3 meter tall, rarely 4 meter. The stems of the plant bear resinous, dark green leaves with two leaflets joined at the base, each leaflet 7-18 millimeter long and 4-8.5 millimeter broad. The yellow flowers are up to 25 millimeter diameter, with five yellow petals. The plant is extraordinarily tolerant of drought, saline or alkaline soils, and adapted to desert conditions. It reproduces by seed and also by sending up new shoots from the roots. The latter results in the creation of clonal rings, some of which are among the oldest known plants at around 11,000 years. Galls may form by the activity of the creosote gall midge. The whole plant exhibits a characteristic odor of creosote (especially when wet), from which the common name derives. Native people use the plant for medicinal purposes. The flowers are Inch-wide twisted, yellow petals bloom from February-August. Some individuals maintain flowers year round. After the Creosote blooms the flower turns into a small white fuzzy fruit capsule that has 5 seeds. You can find these seed capsules on the ground under the creosote bushes. The Creosote bush is the most characteristic feature of North America’s hot deserts. It is one of the best examples of a plant that tolerates arid conditions simply by its toughness. It competes aggressively with other plants for water, and usually wins, accounting for its prevalence in many arid locations of the southwest many medicinal uses as well