Bursera microphylla

 Bursera microphylla (elephant tree) (torote)

Burseraceae 

  • 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.
  • If the bark of the short tapering trunk is damaged, it exudes blood-red sap from the inner layers.
  • The common elephant tree was strongly involved in the vision quest and religious concepts and might be considered as the Seri "holy bush". “People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. Richard Stephen Felger and Mary Beck Moser”
  • The common elephant tree was strongly involved in the vision quest and religious concepts and might be considered as the Seri "holy bush". Icoocmolca "what (blame) is put on (plural)"fetishes carved from the wood of the red elephant tree (Burserda hindsiana) served as messengers to the spiritual world. Also involved in the quest for spiritual power were desert lavender (Condea emoryi). The treatment of sickness often involved a shaman. However, the shaman's curing practices did not include the administering of medicines. He or she customarily held a handful of branches or a wand made from elephant tree or branches of desert lavender (Condea emoryi) or chewed the leaves while practicing curing powers. These plants, particularly the elephant tree, were used because of their powerful spirits. “People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. Richard Stephen Felger and Mary Beck Moser”

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