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Psorothamnus arborescens var. arborescens
Psorothamnus arborescens (Torr. ex A. Gray) Barneby var. arborescens
Mojave Indigobush
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Synonym(s): Dalea arborescens, Dalea fremontii var. saundersii
USDA Symbol: PSARA
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
"Variable in pubescence, the foliage either densely villous-tomentulose or only thinly pilosulous, gray or green; young branchlets usually purplish, the old becoming brown and furrowed; leaves 1-3.5 cm long, the (3) 4-7 leaflets ovate to obovate or elliptic, often asymmetrically so, obtuse, emarginate, or bluntly gland-mucronulate, (3) 5-10 mm long, the 3 uppermost of all leaves usually decurrent and often irregularly confluent, but sometimes all free and the lateral ones all jointed; flower large, the calyx as given in key; petals indigo blue, the banner 9-10 mm, the keel 10.2-11.4 mm, its blades 8.2-8.4 mm long; pod either glabrous except for a few hairs along the ventral keel or thinly villosulous; androecium mostly 8.8-9.8 mm long, the filaments free for 4-5.6 mm." (bibref: 1812).
From the Image Gallery
No images of this plant
Plant Characteristics
Duration: PerennialHabit: Shrub
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Fruit Type: Legume
Size Notes: "3-10 dm tall." (bibref: 1812).
Leaf: "Variable in pubescence, the foliage either densely villous-tomentulose or only thinly pilosulous, gray or green; young branchlets usually purplish, the old becoming brown and furrowed; leaves 1-3.5 cm long, the (3) 4-7 leaflets ovate to obovate or elliptic, often asymmetrically so, obtuse, emarginate, or bluntly gland-mucronulate, (3) 5-10 mm long, the 3 uppermost of all leaves usually decurrent and often irregularly confluent, but sometimes all free and the lateral ones all jointed." (bibref: 1812).
Flower: "Flower large, the calyx as given in key; petals indigo blue, the banner 9-10 mm, the keel 10.2-11.4 mm, its blades 8.2-8.4 mm long; pod either glabrous except for a few hairs along the ventral keel or thinly villosulous; androecium mostly 8.8-9.8 mm long, the filaments free for 4-5.6 mm." (bibref: 1812).
Fruit: "Pod obliquely ellipsoid or ovoid-ellipsoid, the subcompressed body 8-10 mm long, (3.6) 4-6 mm diameter, at least beyond the middle 2-carinate by the sutures, the convex valves charged with large, round or broadly elliptic blister-glands, between the glands either villosulous or glabrous, the ventral suture ciliolate; seed (4.7) 5-6 mm long." (bibref: 1812).
Bloom Information
Bloom Color: BlueBloom Time: Apr , May
Bloom Notes: "Petals indigo-blue." (bibref: 1812).
Distribution
USA: CANative Distribution: "Locally plentiful in scattered stations on southwestern Mohave Desert in western San Bernardino and adjoining Kern counties, California (approximately within the triangle formed by towns of Victorville, Barstow., and Randsburg); greatly isolated near sea-level on shore of Gulf of California in northwestern Sonora (Puerto Penasco, latitude ± 30° 40'N)." (bibref: 1812).
Native Habitat: "Desert hillsides and stony flats in the Larrea belt, on granitic bedrock, sometimes with Yucca arborescens, 390-780 m (1300-2600 ft),." (bibref: 1812).
Bibliography
Bibref 1812 - Daleae imagines : an illustrated revision of Errazurizia Philippi, Psorothamnus Rydberg, Marina Leibmann, and Dalea Lucanus emend. Barneby, including all species of Leguminosae tribe Amorpheae Borissova ever referred to Dalea (1977) Barneby, Rupert C.Search More Titles in Bibliography
Additional resources
USDA: Find Psorothamnus arborescens var. arborescens in USDA PlantsFNA: Find Psorothamnus arborescens var. arborescens in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Psorothamnus arborescens var. arborescens
Metadata
Record Modified: 2020-12-07Research By: Joseph A. Marcus