"Most species have well-defined areas of growth, the best index the voiceless land can give the traveler of his whereabouts. If you have any doubt about it, know that the desert begins with the creosote. This immortal shrub spreads down into Death Valley and up to the lower timberline, odorous and medicinal as you might guess from the name, wandlike, with shining fretted foliage."
-From The Land of Little Rain by Mary Hunter Austin, 1903
