larrea

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of polypetalous evergreen shrubs of tropical and subtropical America, belonging to the natural order Zygophylleæ. It is distinguished botanically from Guaiacum and other related genera by its sessile ovary, its hairy indehiscent fruit, and its bifoliate or abruptly pinnate leaves, the leaflets being often connate. There are four known species, natives of Texas, Mexico, southern Brazil, and the Andes. They are unpleasantly odorous balsamiferous shrubs, with knotty two-ranked branches, opposite leaves, persistent stipules, and yellow flowers solitary on short, terminal, interstipular peduncles. L. Mexicana is the creosote-bush of Mexico and the arid plains of the southwestern United States.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. xerophytic evergreen shrubs; South America to southwestern United States