Psorothamnus polydenius
Encyclopedia
Psorothamnus polydenius is a species of flowering plant in the legume family
known by the common name Nevada dalea. It is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States from the Mojave Desert
in California
to Utah
.
sometimes exceeding one meter in height. Its highly branching stems taper to twigs coated in soft, rough, or silky hairs and visible glands. The small leaves are each made up of a few pairs of oval or rounded leaflets each a few millimeters long.
The inflorescence
is a dense raceme
or spikelike cluster of several flowers. Each flower has a pinkish purple pealike corolla about half a centimeter long in a glandular calyx of sepal
s with pointed lobes. The fruit is a small legume pod containing one seed.
One variety of this species, Psorothamnus polydenius var. jonesii, is endemic to Utah
.
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 name Nevada dalea. It is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States from the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
in 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 Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
Description
Psorothamnus polydenius is a shrubShrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
sometimes exceeding one meter in height. Its highly branching stems taper to twigs coated in soft, rough, or silky hairs and visible glands. The small leaves are each made up of a few pairs of oval or rounded leaflets each a few millimeters long.
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 dense 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...
or spikelike cluster of several flowers. Each flower has a pinkish purple pealike corolla about half a centimeter long in a glandular calyx of sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s with pointed lobes. The fruit is a small legume pod containing one seed.
One variety of this species, Psorothamnus polydenius var. jonesii, is endemic to Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.