CREOSOTE-BUSH. GOBERNADORA. HIDEONDO.

Larrea Mexicana, Moricand. Creosote-Bush Family.

Ill-smelling, resinous shrubs, four to ten feet high; diffusely branched. Leaves.—Opposite; with two unequal leaflets. Leaflets.—Three to six lines long; pointed; sessile. Flowers.—Solitary; yellow. Sepals.—Five; silky; deciduous. Petals.—Five; three or four lines long. Stamens.—Ten; on a small ten-lobed disk. Filaments winged below. Ovary.—Five-celled; Style slender. Hab.—Inland deserts of the southern part of the State.

The most plentiful shrub growing in our southern desert regions is the creosote-bush, so called because its sticky leaves burn with a black smoke and a rank odor, between creosote and carbolic acid.

These shrubs often cover vast tracts of arid soil, and in places are the only growth to be seen. The evergreen foliage is of a warm olive tone, and is borne at the ends of many slender, grayish branches. The small, stemless, opposite leaves, each divided almost to its base into two leaflets, spread butterfly-like upon the slender branchlets. The leaf-nodes are swollen into small, warty prominences, which are especially resinous.

In many localities, especially in Arizona, the branches of this shrub are thickly incrusted with a certain gummy substance, which careful examination has proved to be almost identical with the East Indian shellac of commerce. This is caused by an insect of the genus Coccus, who stings the young twigs, at the same time laying its eggs in them, causing them to exude the gum. Could this gum be collected in sufficient quantities, it would doubtless prove a valuable article of commerce, probably not inferior to the East Indian lac. Dr. Edwd. Palmer writes that it is extensively used by our Indians as a cement with which to fasten their flint arrowheads to the shafts, to mend broken pottery, and to make water-tight their baskets, woven of grass and roots. The plant yields a greenish-yellow dye, with which they paint their persons and color their fabrics; but garments so dyed are said to emit a disagreeable odor always upon being heated.

A lotion made by steeping the branches in water is said to be an excellent remedy for sores; while the leaves dried and reduced to powder are effectively used for the same purpose. Some of our pharmacists say that the plant is a valuable remedy for rheumatism.

By the Spanish-Californians this shrub is known as "gobernadora" and "hideondo"; and by the American settlers of the desert it is known by several uncomplimentary names, among them the meaningless one of "greasewood."

It blossoms in early summer.

III. PINK

[Pink or occasionally or partially pink flowers not described in

the Pink Section.