Elephant Tree or Torote

The one tree of the torchwood family seen in Anza-Borrego is the elephant tree (Bursera microphylla). The elephant tree comes from a large family which includes such plants as frankincense and myrrh. The other family members grow in latitudes to the south of Bursera microphylla, however.

In Anza-Borrego, the elephant tree is commonly seen at the Elephant Trees Nature Trail (south of Ocotillo Wells on Split Mountain Road), in Torote Bowl in the Mountain Palm Springs area, and in Torote Canyon which is reached from Indian Gorge. In 2010, 63 Elephant Trees were counted in the 3-mile area from the Elephant Trees Nature Trail southwest to Starfish Cove at the head of Alma Wash. Five Elephant Trees have been found in the Santa Rosa Mountains, in a remote area above Clark Dry Lake.

Torote, the Spanish word for the tree, is a combination of toro, which means bull, and the suffix -ote, which means large.