Creosote Bush Utah

It is also common in the mohave desert in california nevada and southern utah as well as the chihuahuan desert of new mexico west texas and mexico.

Creosote bush utah. Some of these plants have green chlorophyll in their stems so they can still produce food through photosynthesis when there are no leaves on the plant. If temperatures get too hot and drought stress too great some plants such as creosote bush and ocotillo may drop their leaves several times each year to ensure survival. While this is just a sample of an amazing collection of adaptations. Creosote bush grows at elevations of 5 000 feet or lower and occupies thousands of square miles of arizona s sonoran desert.

Creosote bush larrea tridentata has an unromantic name but possesses wonderful medicinal properties and fascinating adaptive abilities. Creosotebush is found on alluvial plains hillsides mesas and in deserts in the southwestern corner of utah. Larrea tridentata the creosote bush is the most common shrub of the three hottest us deserts mojave sonoran and chihuahuan. The creosote bush is the most characteristic feature of north america s hot deserts.

Its distribution extends from southern california northeast through southern nevada to the southwest corner of utah and southeast through southern arizona and new mexico to western texas and north central mexico. Its tap root seems to serve more as support than as a water finder but the rest of the root system is incredibly efficient. Plants can bloom any time of year following rainfall though early spring to early summer is the usual time. It is one of the best examples of a plant that tolerates arid conditions simply by its toughness.

The creosote bush is a small hardy ubiquitous thoroughly adapted shrub of the hot southwestern deserts usually 3 to 6 feet tall but in optimum conditions it can grow to over 10 feet. It is drought tolerant and plants can be several thousand years old. It competes aggressively with other plants for water and usually wins accounting for its prevalence in many arid locations of the southwest. King clone the 11 700 year old creosote bush ring in the mojave desert as the creosote bush grows older its oldest branches eventually die and its crown splits into separate crowns.

This normally happens when the plant is 30 to 90 years old. The common name refers to the greasy smell exuded by the plant most noticeable during wetter periods. This bush is unusually well suited to arid desert periods and is predominant in parts of arizona california nevada utah and other north american desert areas.