Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Leaves
Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Plant
Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Forb Plant Description
Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Annual or perennial
General Desc:
This plant can be annual, biennual, or perennial. It is one of the most variable plants with differing heights, flowers, and pods. There are 38 varieties of this plant. Identification notes: Corolla purple or whitish. Pods more or less completely 2-celled, spreading or ascending, sessile or nearly so (attached directly without a supporting stalk). Stipules distinct or nearly so. Plants highly variable in ecology, stature and habit. Height:
4 to 16 inches Habitat
Habitat Description: From deserts and salt-flats to open slopes in the high mountains. Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest Elevation: Below 11000 feet Flower Characteristics
Color:
Purple and/or white
Shape:
Other in elongated clusters
Tubular:
Y
Flowering Period:
Apr - Jul Description:
Keel shaped petals can be either white, purple or a combination. Flower clusters are attached by short stalks at equal distances along a central stem.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Compound
Leaf Shape:
Round or oval
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N Hairs:
Leaves
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Stems can be prostrate or erect. Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Fruit Color: Greenish or light brown Fruit Type: Pod Fruit Notes: Two chambered pod is long and leathery with a prominent beak and a groove on one side. The reddish freckles that appear on the pod are the source of the common name.
Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590