Shrubs - Creosote

Delicate and graceful in form, Creosote Bush is an evergreen shrub with an open branching habit.  Slender, erratic stems bearing tiny green leaves.  Very aromatic when wet, they can perfume the air with a intriguing, refreshing desert aroma.  Small, yellow, velvety flowers on and off throughout the year.  They are followed by fluffy seeds covered in shiny white or rusty hairs that facilitate wind dispersal.  A dominant shrub in hot and dry desert areas.  It reproduces by seed and sending up new shoots from the roots.  A single creosote bush may live one thousand years and forms large rings of clones.  Use it as a screen or border hedge in mixed plantings.  Grows 4-8ft tall and wide.  Attracts bees, butterflies and birds.  Native to Mexico and Southwestern United States. 

Creosote is said to have medicinal purposes.  Some indigenous people rely on creosote as a ‘cure-all’ plant.  It has been used as a cure of fever, colds, stomach pains, a general pain killer, diuretic, arthritis, sinusitis, anemia and an anti-diarrheal.  Creosote bush is also antimicrobial. Thereby the plant is useful for cuts and bacterial or fungal infections.  It is also used as a tea.

Scientific name:  Larrea tridentata