Larrea

{{Short description|Genus of shrubs}}

{{About|a genus of shrubs||Larrea (disambiguation)}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Larrea tridentata Anza-Borrego.jpg

|image_caption = Larrea tridentata

|taxon = Larrea

|authority = Cav.

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision =

• Larrea ameghinoi {{small|Speg.}}
• Larrea cuneifolia {{small|Cav.}}
• Larrea divaricata {{small|Cav.}}
• Larrea nitida {{small|Cav.}}
• Larrea tridentata {{small|(DC.) Coville}}

|subdivision_ref = {{cite web |title=Larrea Cav. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:331700-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=11 May 2025}}

|synonyms =

• Covillea Vail
• Neoschroetera Briq.
• Schroeterella Briq.

|synonyms_ref = {{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6524 |title=Genus: Larrea Cav. |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=2007-10-05 |access-date=2010-10-08}}

}}

Larrea is a genus of flowering plants in the caltrop family, Zygophyllaceae. It contains five species of evergreen shrubs that are native to the Americas. The generic name honours Bishop Juan Antonio Hernández Pérez de Larrea, a patron of science.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tb_qBpULHKcC |title=The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America |first=François |last=Couplan |publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-87983-821-8 |page=312}}"Larrea" is itself a Basque surname, where larrea stands for a village in Álava (Spain), ultimately [http://hiztegiak.elhuyar.eus/eu_en/larre meaning 'meadow'] (plus article -a). South American members of this genus are known as jarillas and can produce fertile interspecific hybrids. One of the more notable species is the creosote bush (L. tridentata) of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The King Clone ring in the Mojave Desert is a creosote bush clonal colony estimated to be about 11,700 years old.