Psoralidium lanceolatum
Encyclopedia
Psoralidium lanceolatum is a species of flowering plant in the legume family
known by the common names lemon scurfpea and lanceleaf scurfpea. It is native to western North America from central Canada to California
to Texas
, where it grows in sandy habitat, in sagebrush
and alluvial plain
s. It is a perennial herb with a branching, heavily glandular stem growing 30 to 60 centimeters tall. The leaves are palmately compound, each made up of usually three linear or lance-shaped leaflets borne on a short petiole
. The inflorescence
is a raceme
of flowers emerging from a leaf axil. Each flower is under a centimeter long with a pealike corolla in shades of light purple-blue to white. The fruit is a hairy, glandular, spherical legume.
Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...
known by the common names lemon scurfpea and lanceleaf scurfpea. It is native to western North America from central Canada to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, where it grows in sandy habitat, in sagebrush
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is a common name of a number of shrubby plant species in the genus Artemisia native to western North America;Or, the sagebrush steppe ecoregion, having one or more kinds of sagebrush, bunchgrasses and others;...
and alluvial plain
Alluvial plain
An alluvial plain is a relatively flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms...
s. It is a perennial herb with a branching, heavily glandular stem growing 30 to 60 centimeters tall. The leaves are palmately compound, each made up of usually three linear or lance-shaped leaflets borne on a short petiole
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
of flowers emerging from a leaf axil. Each flower is under a centimeter long with a pealike corolla in shades of light purple-blue to white. The fruit is a hairy, glandular, spherical legume.