Bursera microphylla (elephant tree) (torote)

The elephant tree is a squat, stem-succulent tree reaching up to 15 feet in height found in scattered wash habitats of Anza Borrego Desert State Park. The common name comes from the thick trunk and major branches which contain succulent tissues for the storage of water an resemble and elephant's trunk. Peeling back the exfoliating bark reveals a greenish main trunk. These stem tissues maintain low levels of photosynthesis during the dry portions of the year when the plants are leafless, but probably not enough to do more than partially balance the costs of respiration. The drought-deciduous leaves are clustered at the ends of short shoots and contain highly aromatic terpenoids. A puff of these compounds can be seen spraying into the air if one carefully pulls a single leaf from a branch of elephant tree and watches carefully. It has a CNPS Rare Plant Rank 2B: plants rare, threatened or endangered in California and elsewhere.