Larrea

Morphological Summary

Genus of xerophilous shrubs in the family Zygophyllaceae distributed in the deserts and arid zones of North America (Larrea tridentata, the creosote bush) and South America (Chile, Argentina, Bolivia). They are dominant plants of the warm deserts in their range, with a characteristic rain smell (creosote) produced by the resins and oils of their leaves. The North American creosote bush (L. tridentata) is one of the longest-lived individual plants in the world; some ring-form clones in the Mojave Desert are estimated at over 11,000 years old. South American species have notable traditional medicinal uses.