Larrea tridentata

Larrea tridentata
Larrea tridentata at Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Zygophyllales
Family:	Zygophyllaceae
Genus:	Larrea
Species:	L. tridentata
Binomial name
Larrea tridentata (DC.) Coville[1]

Larrea tridentata is known as Creosote bush as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb,^[2] and as "gobernadora" in Mexico, Spanish for "governess," due to its ability for inhibiting the growth of nearby plants to have more water. In Sonora, it is more commonly called "hediondilla." ^[3]

It is a flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae. The species is named after J.A. Hernandez de Larrea, a Spanish clergyman.^[4]

Distribution

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 California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and western Texas in the United States, and northern Chihuahua and Sonora in Mexico. It is closely related to the South American Larrea divaricata and was formerly treated as the same species.^[5] The species grows as far east as Zapata County, Texas, along the Rio Grande River southeast of Laredo near the 99th meridian west.^[6]

Description

Larrea tridentata is an evergreen shrub growing to 1 to 3 metres (3.3 to 9.8 ft) tall, rarely 4 metres (13 ft). The 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 millimetres (0.28 to 0.71 in) long and 4 to 8.5 millimetres (0.16 to 0.33 in) broad. The flowers are up to 25 millimetres (0.98 in) in diameter, with five yellow petals. 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.^[4]

King Clone, the 11,700 years old Creosote Bush ring in the Mojave Desert. California.

Oldest plants

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 one becomes a clonal colony from the previous plant, composed of many separate stem crowns all from the same seed.^[7]

King Clone

Main article: King Clone

The "King Clone" creosote ring is another plant of the oldest living organisms on Earth. It has been alive 11,700 years, in the central Mojave Desert near present day Lucerne Valley, California. This single clonal colony plant of Larrea tridentata reaches up to 67 feet (20 m) in diameter, with an average diameter of 45 feet (14 m).^[8][9][10] King Clone was identified and the 11,700 years old age, determined by Radiocarbon dating, was first documented by Frank Vasek, a professor at the University of California, Riverside.^[10][11] It is within the Creosote Rings Preserve of the Lucerne Valley and Johnson Valley.^[10]

Habitat

Creosote bush is most common on the well-drained soils of bajadas (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). Despite this common habitat, creosote bush roots have been found to produce chemicals that inhibit the growth of burro bush roots, and much of their relationship is currently unexplained. Such chemicals, however, have failed to explain the peculiar regularity in the spacing of individual plants within a stand.

Creosote bush stands tend to resemble man-made orchards in the even placement of plants. Originally, it was assumed that the plant produced some sort of water-soluble inhibitor that prevented the growth of other bushes near mature, healthy bushes. Now, however, it has been shown 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.^{[citation needed]} It also seems that all plants within a stand grow at approximately the same rate, and that the creosote bush is a very long-living plant.

Desert adaptation

A young Larrea tridentata plant

Contributing 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 actually quite active during wet periods, but most of the young plants die very quickly unless there are optimal water conditions. Ground heat compounds the young plants' susceptibility to water stress, and ground temperatures can reach upwards of 70°C (160°F). To become established, it seems the young plant must experience a pattern of 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 it is common for new cells to quickly absorb water after rainfall. This rapid uptake causes branches to 'grow' several centimeters at the end of a dry season.

The leaves of the creosote bush have a high surface-volume ratio, maximizing the rate of heat escape. At the same time, water loss is minimized by the resinous, waxy coating of the leaves, and by their small size. Plants do 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

A Larrea tridentata flower

Native American medicinals

Larrea tridentata was used by Native Americans in the Southwest as a treatment for many maladies, including sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, chicken pox, dysmenorrhea, and snakebite.^[12] The shrub is still widely used as a medicine in Mexico.^[13]

Herbal supplements and toxicity

Larrea tridentata is often referred to as chaparral when used as a herbal remedy and supplement. 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.^[14] 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.^[15]

According to Gary Paul Nabhan in Gathering the Desert ^[16]: "...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."

In literature and popular culture

• In the book The Land of Little Rain the author Mary Hunter Austin wrote that the desert of the Death Valley "begins with the creosote."
• In the classic science fiction series Dune by Frank Herbert, the Fremen inhabitants of the planet Arrakis rub the juices of the creosote bush into the palms of their hands to prevent water loss through the skin.
• Jimmy Buffett's song, "Life is just a Tire Swing",^[17] mentions the smell of the "Creosote plant".
• King Creosote, is a nickname of an independent singer-songwriter from Fife, Scotland.
• In the film Kingdom of Heaven, Orlando Bloom's character Balian utters the line "A spark and a creosote bush, there is your Moses, there is your religion", suggesting that the burning bush in the Bible was a simple creosote bush being sparked by a thrown rock.

See also

• List of long-living organisms
• Jurupa Oak^[18]

References

1. ^ GRIN Species Profile
2. ^ Moore, M. Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1989: pp. 27-32. ISBN 0-98013-181-3
3. ^ Felger, R. S. and M. B. Moser, 1985, People of the Desert and Sea. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ.
4. ^ ^{a b} http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Larrea%20tridentata . accessed 9/9/2010
5. ^ [1]
6. ^ [2]
7. ^ http://www.nps.gov/jotr/naturescience/creosote.htm . accessed 9/9/2010
8. ^ Creosote Bush: Long-Lived Clones in the Mojave Desert, Frank C. Vasek, American Journal of Botany, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Feb., 1980), pp. 246-255
9. ^ http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=11165 creosote
10. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.lucernevalley.net/creosote/index.htm . accessed 9/9/2010
11. ^ A Natural History of California, p14, Alan A. Schoenherr
12. ^ US Forest Service Info Sheet
13. ^ Arteaga, S., et al. (2005). Larrea tridentata (Creosote bush), an abundant plant of Mexican and US-American deserts and its metabolite nordihydroguaiaretic acid. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 98:3 231-39.
14. ^ Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, Gregory L. Tilford, ISBN 0-87842-359-1
15. ^ Health Canada warns consumers not to take products containing chaparral. 21 December 2005.
16. ^ (1993, page 16)
17. ^ Jimmy Buffett (1974). ""Life is Just a Tire Swing" lyrics". http://www.margaritaville.com/discography.html?ds_id=148. Retrieved June 1, 2011. 
18. ^ http://news.discovery.com/earth/ancient-tree-jurupa-oak-california.html

External links

• National Park Service: Creosote Bush webpage
• Jepson Flora Project: Larrea tridentata
• Dr. Duke's Databases: List of Chemicals – Larrea tridentata
• FEIS: Larrea tridentata' entry
• Botanical Record-Breakers: "King Clone, The World's Oldest Living Thing"
• official Creosote Rings Preserve website

photo links

• EPA: Creosote bush in desert landscape
• Larrea tridentata Photos
• CalPhotos: Larrea tridentata
• blackturtle.us: Creosote Bush – Pictures and Information