Common ingredients of black salves include zinc chloride and chaparral, also known as creosote bush (Latin name Larrea tridentata).
Purple mat, Nama demissum, grows in the American desert southwest, such as the Mojave Desert, and parts of Mexico on dry sandy or gravelly flats from 2000' to 5500' in creosote bush scrub.
The species form is similar to that of the common creosote bush (Larrea tridentata): small, greenish, and hemispherical with similar yellow flowers in the spring.
Common associates in the flora of the plant's basin and desert habitat include saltbush, winterfat, creosote bush, ragweed, greasewood, hopsage, and boxthorn.
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 11,700 years old.
King Clone, a Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) in California, is believed to be the oldest living organism.