Tarbush (Flourensia cernua)

Click on the image at left to enlarge it.

Tarbush is a resinous, many-branched shrub with an odor reminiscent of hops and very black bark (see image at left). This shrub is a diagnostic plant of the Chihuahuan Desert, and is quite common well to the south of our part of the San Pedro River Valley (for example, along the river terraces near Fairbanks and Charleston), but it is quite rare on Saguaro Juniper lands. Indeed, Zimmerman's survey of 1969 placed the northernmost extent of Tarbush near The Narrows, excluding it from our area. The plants shown in these images (photos taken in Lower Hot Springs Canyon in September 2004) are definitely struggling. Here, below, is a view of the leaves at the base of the plant (click on the image to enlarge it):

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