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. “People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. Richard Stephen Felger and Mary Beck Moser”