Plant Image
Flowers


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Pediomelum megalanthum - Intermountain Indian breadroot

Other Common Names: Intermountain Indian-Breadroot, large-flowered Indian breadroot
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Fabaceae


   
 
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Plant
Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium, Usage Rights: CC BY-NC (Attribution-Non-Commercial)
Leaves and flowers
Tony Frates @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Native   Life Cycle: Perennial   Similar Species: Pediomelum pentaphyllum (SE Arizona)
General Desc: Branches arise from deep-seated tuberous roots; hairy stems; 5 to 8 leaflets per compound leaf; flower clusters of 6 to 24 flowers with white banners and purple to bluish-purple wings and keels, flower and leaf stems arise near the ground level.
Identification notes: Low-growing, nearly stemless, glandular, hairy throughout, from tuberous root; leaves grayish-green; leaflets 5 to 8, wedge-shaped, narrow at base; flower tube >1/4 inch, flowers in short, elongated clusters, large white banner, bluish-purple wings, keel.
Height: 1-1/2 to 2 inches


Habitat

Habitat Description: Mixed desert shrub, grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodland.
Plant Communities: Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland
Elevation: 5700 - 7085 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: Purple, bluish-purple, white banner     Shape: Irregular in elongated clusters     Tubular: Y     Flowering Period: Apr - Jun
Description: Short rounded somewhat elongated clusters of flowers, large white banner petal, purple to bluish-purple (whitish at the base) wing and keel petals; 10 stamens, 9 fused, 1 free; bracts hairy. Flower stalks to 2 inches, emerge near the ground.


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Grayish-green     Leaf Type: Compound     Leaf Shape: Round or oval     Leaf Margin: Smooth     Leaf Attachment: Basal     Leaves Clasp: N
Hairs: Leaves and stems     Spines: N
Leaf Description: Leaf stalks to 6 inches long, small stipules (leaf-like appendages); leaves of 5 to 8 leaflets, widest above the middle, rounded and/or notched at the tip, tapering at the base; leaf surfaces dotted by tiny glands; lower surfaces hairy, lower less hairy.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Type: Pod
Fruit Notes: Fruit barely surpasses the sepals.


  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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