Creosote Bush Vs. Potentilla

Natural Distribution

• The creosote bush's native range extends across the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts in southwestern North America. These low- and intermediate-elevation areas become very hot in summer with limited, seasonal rainfall. By contrast, the shrubby cinquefoil grows across a wide array of dry habitats across temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, including western North America. Climate in the natural range becomes warm and dry in summer, but winters are considerably colder.

Size and Habit

• Depending on the availability of water, a creosote bush matures anywhere from 3 to 10 feet tall and equally wide. Its growth habit becomes more upright than wide, with open spreading branches -- like a vase. On shallow soils, such as over caliche, plants remain smaller while over deeper soils where roots obtain more water, the shrubs grow larger, according to the Pima County, Arizona, master gardener website. A shrubby cinquefoil shrub tends to remain and mature smaller, 2 to 4 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide. More twigs and leaves develop so the plant looks rounder, denser and lusher.

Features

• After rain, the glossy, yellow-green leaves of creosote bush emit a distinctive odor, much like creosote, and become deeper yellow-green. Each tiny, evergreen leaf is markedly pointed with two distinct lobes. The yellow flowers occur any time from late winter to midsummer. A blossom displays five oval petals that do not touch each other. Fruits resemble dry, shiny, hairy white capsules. By contrast, shrubby cinquefoil winter-deciduous leaves lack glossiness and feel thinner to the touch. Each leaf comprises five leaflets or lobes and look deep gray-green in color. Cinquefoil's yellow blossoms appear from early summer to early fall. The five round petals touch or slightly overlap each other.

Hardiness

• Creosote only grows where winters aren't too cold, correlating to U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 and warmer, where temperatures don't get colder than 5 degrees Fahrenheit. It also tolerates well over 90 days of temperatures above 86 F annually. Shrubby cinquefoil prospers in cooler climates, in USDA zones 3 through 7. Winter lows drop into the minus 40 to plus 10 F range. It also survives best where no more than 90 days of temperatures over 86 F occur.