Bailey a: Bailey: Woody Plants of National Parks 



151 



thickish, oblong to egg-shaped, I/4 to 1^4 inches long, covered with a dense 

 gray fuzz, the margins scalloped; male flowers borne in small clusters along 

 the stems; female flowers borne singly at the ends of short branches; fruits 

 2- or 3-Iobed cap- 

 sules, about % to 1/4 

 inch in diameter, each 

 lobe containing a 

 smooth roundish seed 

 The seeds are eaten 

 by birds. (Syn. B. 

 myricaejolia as to Ari- 

 zona specimens.) 3'- 



Occurrence. — GRAND 

 CANYON, in the canyon, 

 2,300 to 5,500 feet: 

 Tonto on both sides of 

 the Colorado River; 

 Bright Angel trail l'/2 

 miles above Indian Gar- 

 dens; Kaibab trail along 

 switchbacks below Tip- 

 off ; Bright Angel Can- 

 yon above Phantom 

 Ranch; Clear Creek trail 



Fig. 85. Southwest bernardia {Bernardia incana). 



Caltrop Family (Zygophyllaceae) 



CoviLLE Creosotebush (Larrea tn- 

 dentata (DC.) Cov.), fig. 86. — Erect, 

 widely branching shrub 2 to 5 feet high; 

 herbage with strong aromatic or creosote 

 odor; leaves opposite, divided into 2 leaf- 

 lets; leaflets somewhat sickle-shaped, about 

 1/6 to % inch long, dark green, somewhat 

 tough and leathery; flowers about 1/2 inch 

 across, borne singly at the ends of short 

 branchlets; petals 5, yellow; fruits small 

 globose pods about I/4 inch long, densely 

 covered with long white hairs. (Syns. L. 

 glutinosa Engelm., Covillea tr'tdentata 

 Vail.) 



Creosotebush is a characteristic shrub in 

 the deserts of the Southwest, but is not 

 found commonly in the national parks. The 

 small, tough, resinous leaves well adapt this 

 plant to the dry desert climate. The 

 bushes are quite conspicuous in the spring 



Fig. 86. Coville creosotebush 

 (^Larrea tndenlata) . 



?>2 Morton, C. V., A second United States species of Bernardia. Wash. Acad. Sci 



Jour. 29: 375. 1939. 



