Creosote Bush Utah

While this is just a sample of an amazing collection of adaptations.

Creosote bush utah. This bush is unusually well suited to arid desert periods and is predominant in parts of arizona california nevada utah and other north american desert areas. Creosotebush is found on alluvial plains hillsides mesas and in deserts in the southwestern corner of utah. Its distribution extends from southern california northeast through southern nevada to the southwest corner of utah and southeast through southern arizona and new mexico to western texas and north central mexico. The common name refers to the greasy smell exuded by the plant most noticeable during wetter periods. It is drought tolerant and plants can be several thousand years old. It competes aggressively with other plants for water and usually wins accounting for its prevalence in many arid locations of the southwest. Some of these plants have green chlorophyll in their stems so they can still produce food through photosynthesis when there are no leaves on the plant.

The creosote bush is a small hardy ubiquitous thoroughly adapted shrub of the hot southwestern deserts usually 3 to 6 feet tall but in optimum conditions it can grow to over 10 feet. Creosote bush grows at elevations of 5 000 feet or lower and occupies thousands of square miles of arizona s sonoran desert. Larrea tridentata the creosote bush is the most common shrub of the three hottest us deserts mojave sonoran and chihuahuan. 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. If temperatures get too hot and drought stress too great some plants such as creosote bush and ocotillo may drop their leaves several times each year to ensure survival. Plants can bloom any time of year following rainfall though early spring to early summer is the usual time. It is one of the best examples of a plant that tolerates arid conditions simply by its toughness.

It is distributed from southern california northeast southern nevada southwest corner of utah southern arizona new mexico western texas and north central mexico. Creosotebush occurs throughout the mojave sonoran and chihuahuan deserts. Its tap root seems to serve more as support than as a water finder but the rest of the root system is incredibly efficient. Creosote bush larrea tridentata has an unromantic name but possesses wonderful medicinal properties and fascinating adaptive abilities. This normally happens when the plant is 30 to 90 years old.