Creosotebush
http://phoenix.about.com/cs/desert/a/creosote.htm the Spanish word for the plant, hediondilla, means "little stinker," a virtual pharmacy for Native Americans and the steam from the leaves was inhaled to relieve congestion. It was also used in the form of a medicinal tea to cure such ailments as flu, stomach cramps, cancer, coughs, colds, and others. Here is the recipe for Creosote Tea
http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/DVH/HerbsReference/0,3928,4098%7CCreosote+bush,00.html reference guide
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0601.htm The World's Oldest Living Thing [101]. Vasek, Frank C. 1980. Creosote bush: long-lived clones in the Mojave Desert. American Journal of Botany. 67(2): 246-255. [2761]
http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/lartri/all.html In 1904, creosotebush was confined to about 950 acres (380 ha) at the Santa Rita Experimental Range in Arizona [56]. By 1934, the number of acres occupied by creosotebush had increased more than 12-fold to 11,900 acres (4760 ha). By 1954, creosotebush occupied an area 73 times as great as it had 50 years before. Humphrey and Mehrhoff [56] attribute creosotebush expansion to a reduction in range fires.
[56] Humphrey, R. R.; Mehrhoff, L. A. 1958. Vegetation changes on a southern Arizona grassland range. Ecology. 39(4): 720-726. [4215]
http://extension.usu.edu/rangeplants/Woody/creosotebush.htm close photo of flower
http://www.nps.gov/bibe/photogallery/photo84.htm dusk photo
http://www.epa.gov/nerlesd1/land-sci/photo05.htm landscape with creosote
http://www.suu.edu/faculty/martin/creosotebush/creosotebush.htm various photos
sites gathered by: John Novello