[Illustration: Flourensia cernua]
Common names: TARBUSH, VARNISHBUSH
Arizona and Texas deserts: (_Flourensia cernua_). Yellow.
July-December.
Sunflower family. Size: A small shrub 3 feet, occasionally 6 or 7 feet
high.
These resinous, much-branched, perennial shrubs are found on plains and
mesas at elevations around 4,000 feet from western Texas to eastern
Arizona and south into Mexico. The yellow, nodding flower heads are
small, and the leaves have a hop-like odor and a bitter flavor
unpalatable to cattle.
In northern Mexico the leaves and dried flower heads are sold in the
drug markets under the name of _hojase_, recommended, in the form of a
brew, as a remedy for indigestion.