''Dermatophyllum gypsophilum'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Guadalupe Mountain necklacepod,''Dermatophyllum gypsophilum'' (as ''Sophora gypsophila'').
USDA Plants Profile. Guadalupe mescalbean (var. ''guadalupensis''),''Dermatophyllum gypsophilum'' subsp. ''gypsophilum'' (as ''Sophora gypsophila'' var. ''guadalupensis'').
US Forest Service: Celebrating Wildflowers. and gypsum necklace.''Dermatophyllum gypsophilum'' (as ''Sophora gypsophila'').
The Nature Conservancy. It is native to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in the United States, and it is known from one location in Chihuahua in Mexico. This

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

grows up to 2 meters in height and has leathery, silver-haired leaves and purple flowers. There are two subspecies: subsp. ''gypsophila'' is native to Chihuahua, where it is found between

Coyame Coyame (formally: Santiago de Coyame) is a town in the Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It serves as the Municipalities of Mexico, municipal seat of Coyame del Sotol Municipality. In the 2010 INEGI Census, the town reported a tot ...

and

Chihuahua City The city of Chihuahua or Chihuahua City ( ; Lipan language, Lipan: ) is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. , the city of Chihuahua had a population of 925,762 inhabitants. while the metropolitan area had a popu ...

. The subsp. ''guadalupensis'' is found in the Brokeoff and

Guadalupe Mountains The Guadalupe Mountains () are a mountain range located in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The range includes the highest summit in Texas, Guadalupe Peak, , and the "signature peak" of West Texas, El Capitan, both of which are located wi ...

of New Mexico and in

Culberson County, Texas Culberson County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 2,188. The county seat is Van Horn, Texas, Van Horn. Culberson County was founded in 1 ...

. This plant often grows in substrates containing

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

. In the Guadalupe Mountains the soil is fine-grained pink

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

with some gypsum or limestone pavement with about 1% gypsum. The plant grows alongside ''

Tiquilia hispidissima ''Tiquilia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. The 28 species in this genus are known by the common name crinklemat. They are native to the Western Hemisphere and are mostly found in desert regions. Species 28 s ...

'', which is limited to gypsum soils.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7563130 Faboideae Flora of Chihuahua (state) Flora of New Mexico Flora of Texas