Larrea tridentata

 

Larrea tridentata (creosotebush) (gobernadora)

Larrea divaricata

Zygophillaceae

• These strong-scented, resinous shrubs form extensive stands throughout the warm deserts of the Americas. Although the yellow, five-petalled flowers are small, they offer color where drought eliminates other hues. The 5, 000-500, 000 flowers produces by a single creosotebush in an average year attracts bees, wasps and flies. Petals twist 90 degrees if they've been pollinated. Sonoran Desert creosote blooms peak in March and April, and enlargement is triggered by a drenching rain following a drought, but flowering itself does not occur until the soil begins to dry out again. The bush is found on flats, bajadas, and hills below 4,500 feet. "Arizona Highways Presents Desert Wildflowers, 1988".
• Direct sowing/Hull seeds or sand off one end; soak 4-9 hours in deionized water/Time of planting: anytime. "Arizona Highways Presents Desert Wildflowers, 1988".
• Creosote bush is one of the most abundant shrubs in the deserts of North and South America. It ranges over most of the lowland deserts of western Sonora, including Tiburon Island. It is absent from San Esteban Island. The multi-stem shrub has very hard wood, although the stems seldom exceed 5 cm in diameter. Bright yellow-petaled flowers and the gummy foliage develop in response to rainfall at any time of the year. The resinous foliage produces a strong odor which is particularly evident after a rain. The branches are sometimes encrusted with a reddish brown lac from the excretions of a scale insect (Tachardiella larreae). Lac-bearing plants are abundant in the Agua Dulce Valley on Tiburon Island and between Pozo Coyote and Puerto Libertad. Adhesive and Sealants: pieces of lac were picked off the branches and placed in sea turtle shell or other suitable receptable. A hot coal was held near them, melting them into one piece, which was then formed into a rounded glob for carrying. It could be kept for future use and melted when needed. Men carried a supply of lac in their arrow quivers. Creosotebush lac was used extensively as an all purpose glue and sealant. The lac is plastic when heated but hardens again on cooling, forming a strong bond akin to commercial sealing wax. It was used for hafting harpoon and arrow points, repairing holes and cracks in pottery vessels, and sealing clamshell, pottery, or stone lids on storage vessels. The lid was easily removed by severing the hard, dry lac with a heated knife blade. It was extensively used to repair ironwood carvings and to fill cracks, small holes, and crevices in the sculpture. The leafy branches were used to seal pottery vessels. Boats: creosotebush wood made into spikes were stuck into the top sides of the balsa for fastening cargo. Fishing: boxes of soft wood, made from Bursera hindsiana were held together by pieces of creosotebush wood used as nails. Fishing: the serrated points for both single and double-pronged fish harpoons were made of creosote bush or Acacia greggii. The point of the turtle harpoon, almost always made of catclaw before metal was available, was sometimes made of creosote bush. The creosote bush was used because it does not soften in sea water. Food Gathering: the fruit gathering pole for organ pipe fruit, had a tip which used to be made of a sharpened spike of creosote bush wood. The fruit-gathering pole for pitaya agria had a transverse hardwood spike, often made from creosote bush or Lippia. Food Preparation: a stick used for removing meat from a cooking for, was made of a short creosote bush branch. The two kind of meat skewers were made from creosote bush. The branches were used to brush glochids and spines off the fruit of cholla and prickly-pear before they were peeled and eaten. Footwear: the people sometimes wrapped their feet with pads of leafy branches of creosote bush and tied them on with Cardiospermum. This practice was improvised if one was out in the desert without sandals in the summer, since the ground was often too hot to walk on barefoot. Medicine: creosote bush was still much used for medicinal purposes in the 1980s. The leafy branches were often tied in a bundle and stored in the house until needed. Leafy branches heated in fire were used as a poultice to reduce swelling or to relieve abdominal pain after parturition. For aching feet, leafy branches were placed on hot coals, a cloth placed over the branches, and the tired feet rested on the cloth. For a sore leg, hand, or arm, a hole in the ground was filled with hot coals; then leafy creosote bush branches were added, the hole was covered with a cloth, and the afflicted limb was held into the smoke. For headache, hot leafy branches wrapped in a cloth were held to the head, or the head was washed in water in which the foliage had been cooked. For difficulty breathing, about one half liter of creosote bush tea was drunk. A feather was used to make the patient vomit, after which he could breathe. This was done on an empty stomach in the morning. The roots were boiled and the liquid taken to cure dizziness. For a stingray wound, a tea was boiled and the afflicted part was soaked. A contraceptive was made from the lac. A wad of lac was placed on a stick and heated in a flame. As it melted, drops were caught in a container of water held beneath it. A woman drank the water as a contraceptive. A woman suffering from an aching back following childbirth sometimes lay on top of leafy creosote bush branches placed over a small pit filled with warm ashes. She also drank a lot of hot water, and a heated stone wrapped in a cloth was placed on her stomach. Smoking: a round insect gall found among the foliage twigs was smoked like tobacco. The Supernatural: children wore amulets of creosotebush lac on a string or mesquite twine around their necks. Amulets sometimes formed into an hourglass shape, were occasionally worn by adults to bring good luck. Other Uses: the lac was used to decorate arrows. Lac was softened by holding a burning stick near it; it was hen picked up in a glob, or wad, with another stick. Next, it was held over a container of water and again melted. As it melted and dripped into the water, it burned and turned black. The blackened drops were taken from the water, reheated, and a single hair from a horse's tail was drawn through it. The horse hair with the hot lac on it was used to make thin black rings near the end of the main shaft. The rings were covered with transparent sinew, which bound the foreshaft and mainshaft. This decoration was done so that one could know whether or not an arrow was made by a Seri. For stuffing and taxidermy of a mule deer or jackrabbit head, the eyes were represented with balls formed from the melted lac. The deer head was used in the deer dance or as a decoy for hunting; the jackrabbit head also served as a hunter's decoy or a girl's doll. "People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians".