Folkways
by Maya Brown Zniewski
CRESOTE BUSH OR CHAPARRAL
Protection from the desert sun
L
arrea tridentate is known as cre-
osote bush before you harvest
it and chaparral after harvest,
as you begin to use it as medicine.
Native to much of the southwestern
United States and northern
Mexico, a similar and closely-relat-
ed species grows in southern Peru,
Bolivia, and Argentina. One of the
oldest living plants in the world is a
colony of creosote bushes in the
Mojave Desert in California. It is
thought to be 11,700 years old. The
yellowish-green,
one-inch-long
leaves are pointed and leathery; the
flowers are darker yellow with five
petals. It blooms from August
through January. An incredibly
drought-tolerant plant, it can sur-
vive for two years with no water
whatsoever. It will drive out sur-
rounding plants by taking most if
not all the plants’ moisture via its
root system. Creosote’s root system
is close to the surface and often
includes a tap root to draw water
from deeper in the desert.
Medicinally, creosote or chapar-
ral is used for at least 15 different
ailments. It is an all-purpose anti-
bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflam-
matory, and anti-parasitic. It is the
desert’s medicine cabinet, used for a
catalogue of ailments. These
include colds, chest infections, lung
congestion, gas and bloating,
delayed menstruation, rheumatoid
arthritis, tuberculosis, cancer, nau-
sea, wounds, poisons, poor circula-
tion, dandruff, body odor, distem-
per, postnasal drip, and in the treat-
ment of malignant melanomas. The
use of chaparral is in the investiga-
tive stages for cancer treatment.
(Please, for your sake do not
attempt at-home cancer treatment!)
It is commonly used as a salve for
protection against the raging sun in
areas where it grows. It’s what I use
when I am in the desert. When
infused into an oil it is either used
directly on the skin as an oil or
blended into a salve first.
Chaparral-infused oil or salve can
be used on just about any skin con-
dition: athlete’s foot, eczema, psori-
asis, bug bites, burns, cuts, scrapes,
skin tags and dry and cracked skin.
A good chaparral-infused oil, lini-
ment, or salve will act as a sun-
screen.
To make your own oil: Strip a
cup of leaves off the stem. Warm
one cup olive oil to 110’. Mix the
crushed leaves into the warm oil,
cover and let it sit at room temper-
ature overnight. Strain off the
leaves. Store the oil for use as a sun
screen.
The FDA and Health Canada
(the Canadian FDA) give the use of
chaparral in a tea, a tincture or
other tonic, or anything internal a
big NO-
NO. They continued on page 27
Cenizo
Third Quarter 2015
11