Elephant Tree
Bursera microphylla
Elaphrium microphylla
Sketched from live specimen found at South Mountain Park, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
Observed near Telegraph Pass in South Mountains, Phoenix, Arizona, Dec. 2008.
RANGE: Rare in scattered locations from Phoenix South Mountain
Park thence south and west to Yuma and Organ Pipe Monument. In the Sonoran
Desert of Baja California, the nearly frost-free climate allows for larger,
handsome and beautiful trees.
TREE or SHRUB: Typically grows to tree size, but frost-killed plants
often grow back looking shrubby. Bark on branches is grey or reddish brown and
on older trunks it peels off in thin papery pieces. The twigs are conspicuously
thickened; Mature trees show the distinctive enlarged trunk that narrows
rapidly above.
LEAVES: Shiny green, pinately compound leaves emit strong resin odor as
do the cut twigs which also ooze a clear sap. The sap is under considerable
pressure and will gum up and poinson the mouthparts of leaf-munching insects.
UNARMED
FLOWERS: Small and inconspicuous in mid to late spring.
FRUIT: A resinous berry with one three-angled seed, Dec. to Feb.