Larrea tridentata

Larrea tridentata (creosote bush) (gobernadora)

Zygophyllaceae

•  Root toxins produced by the roots of creosote bush reduce competition for water by killing plants that grow too close. Because of this it is sometimes spaced perfectly regularly, as if planted by man.
• A waxy covering on creosote-bus leaves slow down water loss through the leaf surface. By reflecting heat, the shiny covering also help to keep leaves cool.

• A means by which desert plants influence the energy balance of their leaves comes with leaf orientation. Many desert leaves have a favored direction of placement, often meaning that they are oriented vertically. Such a position allows the leaves to maximize the amount of direct solar radiation they receive in the morning and afternoon hours when temperatures are cooler, and to minimize the direct solar radiation they receive at midday. By orientating the leaf vertically, chlorophyll and stomata are effectively hidden on both upper and lower leaf surfaces. This reduces solar irradiance during peak, mid-day exposure and maximizes it when the light angle is less direct. Some desert plants show a fixed branch and leaf orientation that maximizes solar irradiance over the growing season and thus net photosynthesis. One such species is creosote bush which orients the display of its foliage toward the southeast (or equator) with steeply inclined branches. This orientation minimizes self shading of leaves in the morning hours and maximizes the daily amount of photosynthesis by the entire leaf canopy. 
• The most widespread and dominant plant community across both the Mojave and Sonoran deserts is creosote bush scrub. This community, in varied forms, covers perhaps 70 percent of the total area of both deserts -occupying a broad range of habitats and geomorphic substrates. On broad alluvial plains this community may include high densities of creosote bush with a relatively low diversity of other woody plants. Moving up onto bajada slopes and rocky sediments, there is typically and increased diversity of associated woody shrubs and succulents and reduced dominance by creosote bush. The upper elevations of creosote bush scrub, around the periphery of the Mohave desert at elevations of 3, 500 - 5, 200 ft, are characterized as Joshua tree woodland because of the presence of Joshua tree. In many respects, the associated plants of the Joshua tree woodlands in this elevation belt match the flora of typical creosote bush. However, creosote bush drops out of Joshua tree woodlands at higher elevations with colder winter temperatures.
• Creosote bush is a remarkable species in many respects. To begin with, no other desert shrub even comes close to rivaling it in sheer ecological success. Creosote bush not only dominates broad areas of the Mohave and Sonoran deserts, but the Chihuahuan Desert as well. This success is particularly surprising when we consider that it is a relatively recent immigrant to our deserts from South America, with no evidence from fossil or pollen records before about 22, 000 years ago.
• Creosote bush is an evergreen shrub. Being evergreen is unusual for desert shrubs in California-with the vast majority being drought deciduous and losing their leaves as water availability declines in the summer. The ability to maintain leaves through such stressful summer conditions requires a number of ecophysiological adaptations. Foremost of these is the ability to maintain metabolic activity under conditions of extreme water stress. The individual leaves of creosote bush consist of two wedge-shaped leaflets up to 1/2 inch in length. This small size is effective in allowing them to maintain leaf temperatures close to air temperatures through convective heat transfer. Since the leaves are evergreen and experience temperature as high as 120 F during the extremes of summer, they avoid utilizing evaporative cooling to keep from reaching lethal temperatures. The foliage of creosote bush shows an interesting pattern of 35-60 degrees horizontal. This orientation minimizes self-shading during the morning hours and thereby maximizes the total amount of solar radiation received over the course of the day.
• There is indirect evidence that genetic individuals of creosote bush may be extremely long-lived. As creosote shrubs grow and expand outward from their center, young stems develop at the periphery at the same time that the central portions of the plants die. In old plants this continued growth pattern forms rings of living tissue-all genetically identical-around an open center. A very large clone of this type, in the Mojave Desert near Lucerne Valle, is name King Clone because of its size. It has an average diameter of 45 ft and reaches up to 67 ft in diameter at its widest point. King Clone is estimated to be almost 12, 000 years old. It would thus be the oldest living organism in the world. Whatever the age of these Methuselahs of the creosote bush world, there is no question that individual shrubs commonly live for at least decades and often centuries. Long-lived shrubs like this play a keystone role in desert ecology as they serve as a site where windblown dust and organic matter collect. This collection of debris, around the base of creosote ad other long-lived shrubs, builds up mounds of what are called fertile islands in the desert. These are critical habitats for may desert annuals which require more nutrition than that available in open sandy areas. The mature shrubs and their fertile islands also serve as nurse plants that aid in the establishment of many desert perennials.
• Native Americans use an extract of creosote bush as sunscreen and potent antioxidant for the treatment of blood poisoning and liver diseases. Stores selling herbal remedies often carry "chaparral tea" which is composed entirely of leaves of creosote bush. Leaf resin of the plant contain a smorgasbord of chemical compounds that serve to deter herbivores.  "California Desert Plants, Philip W. Rundel, Robert J. Gustafson, Micahel E. Kauffmann."

• La gobernadora sirve como infusión para la tos o gripa, aunque Amelia (2015) y Aronia (2015) refieren que esta planta también la usaban para lavarse los pies, para prevenir el mal olor. Elizabeth (2015) por su parte, dice que la gobernadora también se empleada para los dolores de estómgo y la fertilidad. "Los cucapá, Everardo Garduño"