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seed
plant
tree
garden

Description

arrea tridentata is an evergreen shrub growing to 1 to 3 metres (3.3 to 9.8 ft) tall, rarely 4 metres (13 ft). The stems of the plant bear resinous, dark green leaves with two opposite lanceolate leaflets joined at the base, with a deciduous awn between them, each leaflet 7 to 18 millimetres (0.28 to 0.71 in) long and 4 to 8.5 millimetres (0.16 to 0.33 in) broad. The flowers are up to 25 millimetres (0.98 in) in diameter, with five yellow petals. The whole plant exhibits a characteristic odor of creosote, from which the common name derives. The creosote bush is one of the oldest living organisms on Earth. The "King Clone" creosote ring is another plant of the oldest living organisms on Earth. It has been alive 11,700 years, in the central Mojave Desert near present day Lucerne Valley, California. This single clonal colony plant of Larrea tridentata reaches up to 67 feet (20 m) in diameter, with an average diameter of 45 feet (14 m). King Clone was identified and the 11,700 years old age, determined by Radiocarbon dating, was first documented by Frank Vasek, a professor at the University of California, Riverside. It is within the Creosote Rings Preserve of the Lucerne Valley and Johnson Valley