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 Leaves Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plant Sue Carnahan @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: CC BY-NC (Attribution-Non-Commercial) | | | | |
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Origin:
Introduced
Life Cycle:
Annual or perennial
General Desc:
Trailing with tip ascending annual or perennial with numerous spreading branches to 32 inches long; smooth stems and foliage; leaves have 3 toothed leaflets; flowers yellow, banner, wing and keel; fruit a prickly, tightly coiled pod.
Identification notes: Annual; herbage may be somewhat hairy, numerous branches spread and trail along the ground; stipules broad, whitish; flowers yellow in clusters of 2 to 5; pods hairy, spirally coiled 2 to 3 times, several seeded, 2 to 3 rows of hooked or straight spikes.
Height:
Up to 6 inches
Habitat Description: Widely established, occasional in waste areas, old fields, disturbed areas, roadsides, chaparral vegetation, oak woodland, streambanks, grasslands, pastures, agricultural lands (especially alfalfa fields) and lawns.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Riparian, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: Below 5000 feet
Color:
Yellow
Shape:
Irregular in round clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Mar - Jun
Description:
Small bright yellow flowers clustered into heads on stem tips, 2 to 5 flowers per head; flower is bilaterally symmetrical (only 1 way to evenly divide flower) with a banner, wings and keel (typical pea flower).
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Compound
Leaf Shape:
Round or oval
Leaf Margin:
Toothed
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
No
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Purplish stems with groove; compound leaves appearing alternately on stem, clover-like shape; leaves divided into 3 triangular-round leaflets, each leaflet with serrated edges.
Fruit Color: Green or brown
Fruit Type: Pod
Fruit Notes: Pods about 1/16 inch across, start out green and relatively soft but quickly turn brown and hard; tightly coiled into 2 to 3 spirals, margins keeled (ridged), keel armed on each side by row of curved or hooked prickles.
Seed Notes: Inside the pod are several seeds, usually yellow or tan, and kidney-shaped.
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