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Creosote Bush
Larrea tridentata
  
17 Nurseries Carry This Plant

About Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata) 17 Nurseries Carry This Plant 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.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub

Size
Size
3.3 - 12 ft tall
6 - 12 ft wide

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Moderate, Slow

Dormancy
Dormancy
Evergreen

Fragrance
Fragrance
Fragrant - Pleasant

Flower Color
Flower Color
Yellow

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring

Wildlife Supported
 
Numerous insects are attracted to the flowers. Various birds are attracted to the seeds.

 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1 confirmed , 3 likely * ) SHOW ALL
Thyridopteryx meadii Image
Thyridopteryx meadiiThyridopteryx meadii
*
Hyles lineata Image
White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata
*
Digrammia colorata Image
Creosote Moth Digrammia colorataDigrammia colorata
*
Stenoporpia pulchella Image
Stenoporpia pulchellaStenoporpia pulchella

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Low, Very Low

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries
Carried by 17

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Moderately Easy

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to 10° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast

Soil Description
Soil Description
Almost always found in rocky, sandy or gravelly soil. Tolerates Saline Soil,Tolerates Sodic Soil. Soil PH: 6.5 - 8.5

Common uses
Common uses
Hedges, Deer Resistant, Bee Gardens

Companion Plants
Companion Plants
Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis), Desert Lavender (Condea emoryi), California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera), Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), Blue Paloverde (Parkinsonia florida), WhIte Bursage (Ambrosia dumosa), Chuparosa (Justicia californica), Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus), Desert Agave (Agave deserti), BrIttlebush (Encelia farinosa), Indigo Bush (Psorothamnus sp.), Smoke Tree (Psorothamnus spinosus), Apricot Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua), Opuntia spp, numerous annual wildflowers

Maintenance
Maintenance
Prune to shape in late fall or early winter

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: Soak, preferably in distilled water, overnight; germinate in dark under hot bed conditions [optimum temperature 73°F constant). Germination percentage may be low. Germinating seedlings intolerant of water stress [Barbour 1968; Mabry et al. 1977).

Sunset Zones
Sunset Zones?
7, 8*, 9*, 10*, 11*, 12*, 13*, 14*, 18, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22, 23

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Mountains, valleys, and washes of the southern California deserts

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 1.9" - 29.7", Summer Precipitation: 0.12" - 2.93", Coldest Month: 33.2" - 63.3", Hottest Month: 61.5" - 90.9", Humidity: 1.66" - 49.31", Elevation: -214" - 7070"


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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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