elephant tree
Bursera microphylla
Its peeling bark acts as a natural sunscreen, and when scratched, the tree releases a highly aromatic, frankincense-like resin used in traditional medicine.
- Scientific name
- Bursera microphylla
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Sapindales › Burseraceae › Bursera
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- desert
- Habitat
- Arid desert slopes, rocky hillsides, and bajadas.
- Diet
- Photosynthetic (autotroph), absorbing sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide.
- Range
- Sonoran Desert, Arizona, California, Baja California, Sonora
- Size
- Up to 3-8 meters (10-26 feet) tall with a trunk diameter up to 60 cm.
- Lifespan
- 50 to 100+ years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Climate change (extreme prolonged droughts), habitat destruction from urban sprawl, and illegal harvesting for its aromatic wood and resin.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. Admire this unique desert tree from a safe distance to avoid damaging its fragile, peeling papery bark. Do not harvest its aromatic resin or branches. If you touch the sap, wash with soap and water to prevent mild skin irritation.
Bursera microphylla is a North American species of tree in the Frankincense Family in the soapwood order. Bursera microphylla , known by the common name elephant tree in English or ' torote' in Spanish, is a tree in genus Bursera . It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.
Photo: Ken-ichi Ueda, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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