Psorothamnus Arborescens
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''Psorothamnus arborescens'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Mojave indigo bush.


Distribution and habitat

''Psorothamnus arborescens'' is native to southwestern North America, where it can be found in many types of desert and dry mountainous
habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
s. It grows at in elevation.Jepson: ''P. arborescens''
. accessed 12.1.2011
It is found in the
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
n
Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...
and
Colorado Desert The Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert located in California, United States, and Baja California, Mexico. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali valleys. It is home to ...
, south into the
Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...
in the Mexican state of
Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...
, east past the
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
into the
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
Great Basin Desert The Great Basin Desert is part of the Great Basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Range in the western United States. The desert is a geographical region that largely overlaps the Great Basin shrub steppe defined by the World Wildlife ...
, and west into the
San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...
of
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
. Also found in northwest Arizona in the Joshua Tree National Forest.


Description

''Psorothamnus arborescens'' is a
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 ...
growing no more than tall, its highly branching stems sometimes with thorns. The leaves are each made up of a few pairs of green linear to oval leaflets up to a centimeter in length. The
inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
is a long
raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...
of many flowers with reddish green calyces of
sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...
s and bright purple pealike corollas up to a centimeter long. The fruit is a glandular
legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...
pod up to a centimeter long containing one seed. The seed pod is the only way to tell the difference between ''P. arborescens'' and the very similar species, '' P. fremontii''.


Varieties

The varieties of this species are generally similar in appearance but more restricted in distribution: *''Psorothamnus arborescens'' var. ''arborescens'' (syn: ''Dalea fremontii'' var. ''saundersii'' (Parish) Munz) - southwestern Mojave Desert, elevation. *''Psorothamnus arborescens'' var. ''minutifolius'' - White and
Inyo Mountains The Inyo Mountains are a short mountain range east of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California in the United States. The range separates the Owens Valley to the west from Saline Valley to the east, extending for approximately south-southeast f ...
, Mojave
sky island Sky islands are isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau and has extended to similarly isolated high-elevation forests. The isolation has s ...
s, east of Sierra Nevada, elevation.Jepson: ''P. arborescens'' var. ''minutifolius'' - (Parish) L.D. Benson
/ref>


References


External links


Calflora Database: ''Psorothamnus arborescens'' (California Dalea, Mojave indigo bush)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment - ''Psorothamnus arborescens''USDA Plants Profile for ''Psorothamnus arborescens''''Psorothamnus arborescens'' - U.C. Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7256139 arborescens Flora of California Flora of Nevada Flora of Sonora Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Natural history of the Colorado Desert Natural history of the Mojave Desert Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Flora without expected TNC conservation status