General: Turpentine Bush (Ericameria laricifolia), one of the Golden-bushes, is a mid-sized, rounded shrub with thickened leaves that are resinous with glands in pits. The stems and leaves are glabrous, gland-dotted and resin-coated, resinous, and aromatic. Leaves are elongate, but variable in width (threadlike to oval). Phyllaries are set series of 2-7, resinous, and persistent. Disk flowers few to many (6-18). Ray flowers few (3-6). Clusters of yellow flowers are produced at the tips of the branches during spring and early summer. It seems that the flowers open with only disk flowers, but then ray flowers emerge later.

Turpentine Bush is a fairly common component of vegetation communities in dry, well-drained gravelly areas on upper bajadas in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zone.

Around Las Vegas, look for Turpentine Bush at mid-elevations in Red Rock Canyon NCA (e.g., flats below Oak Creek), but the center of its distribution is central and southeastern Arizona.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae)