Condea emoryi

 Condea emoryi (desert lavender) ( )

Lamiaceae

• A small number of shrubby wash species exhibit a drought-deciduous behavior by shedding their leaves under summer water stress. Desert lavender is a large shrub found in rocky washes and channels throughout the Sonoran Desert and lower elevation Mojave Desert up to 3,000 feet elevation, and eastward as far as the Chihuahuan Desert. This erect shrub is generally 4-10 feet in height, with simple ovate leaves covered with a dense, white pubescence. The opposite arrangement of the leaves and the sweet fragrance of the foliage help identify desert lavender as a member of the mint family. Like other drought-deciduous shrubs, desert lavender exhibit seasonal leaf dimorphism. The first leaves produced in spring are relatively large and this, with less dense pubescence. As the season progresses and water stress slowly increases, new leaves are increasingly smaller and thicker, with denser pubescence. This seasonal leaf dimorphism allows the plant to produce leaves adapted to the immediate growing conditions at the time they form. While desert lavender in California drops its leaves  due to water stress in summer, it is often evergreen over its broader range in Arizona and northwestern Mexico where there is biseasonal or summer rainfall. The attractive foliage and flowers of desert lavender make it a popular plant for aridland gardening and landscaping. "California Desert Plants, Philip W Rundel, Robert J Gustafson, Michael E Kauffmann."
• 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. This common desert shrub occurs throughout the Seri region, including Tiburon and San Esteban Islands. It grows on rocky slopes, as well as across the desert floor and along dry washes and arroyos. The multiple, slender stems reach 2 to 4 m in height. The small, simple leaves are covered with grayish white hairs and the tiny, lavender-blue flowers are fragrant. The wood is somewhat flexible and moderately hard. In spring, when the desert lavender was in flower, women and girls picked handfuls to take home because of the pleasant fragrance. Dye: for use as a basket dye. Fishing: the shaft for the single-pronged fish harpoon, was often made from this shrub. Hunting: desert tortoises were usually hunted by women. During the cooler months of the year, the tortoises were known to crawl into small caves or burrows extending beneath large rocks. The usual method of hunting was to search in canyons for likely caves or burrows. The women then fashioned a long pole made from a stout branch of desert lavender. It was used because it was frequently common where tortoises were found and it has tall stems. With a wire hook fastened to one end of the pole, they pushed it into the cave to feel for tortoises. When they felt one, they poked at it until it was hooked in the posterior part of the carapace and then pulled the animal out. Medicine: tea brewed from the leaves, with cinnamon added, was taken to cure a cold. As a remedy for asthma and rapid breathing a tea was made with the shavings of Bursera hindsiana and desert lavender stem-tips. To relieve a toothache, the leaves, a piece of the pith from the stem of Opuntia fulgida, and a piece of Anemopsis were brewed together in warm water and the liquid held in the mouth over an aching tooth. A few leaves were placed in the ear to help one hear better. The Supernatural: some considered the plant to be one of the first plants formed. Temporary huts for a vision quest were sometimes covered with elephant tree and desert lavender branches. While curing, a shaman often held a bundle of the leafy stems and blew through them, chanting. “People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. Richard Stephen Felger and Mary Beck Moser”