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By Celli Laughting Coyote
It is also know as Creosote Bush, Greasewood, Hediondilla. It is native to the scrub deserts of the southwestern U.S. It grows wild between California and Texas, all the way south to Mexico. Chaparral grows from 3-9 feet tall, has many branches and during the rainy season, it's leaves are covered with a tar like resin. The resin is the base for creosol. It has yellow flowers thru January to May, but it could flower anytime throughout the year. It's fruit is covered with fine white hairs and looks like little lint balls. Chaparral is considered one of the most accommodating plants in the desert, it takes long time periods without water and when it does rain it emits a resin to trap as much rain water as it can. Because the resin has a unpleasant smell the Mexicans called it hediondilla which means in Mexican "little stinker". This plant is named in honor of a 18th century Spaniard, Juan Antonio Hernandez de Larrea. The best example of Chaparral is a 25 by 70 foot bush know as King Clone. It is in the Johnson Valley and is believed to be 12,000 year old. It is believed to have started as a single bush just after the last ice age. There are some medical uses for Chaparral. The Indians used a decoction made from the leaves to cleanse the body and to heal sores. Today it is use as an ingredient in herbal teas to relieve or stop coughing, to ease arthritis and as a cancer remedy.
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