Caragana
Caragana frutex
pea-tree, peashrub
Russian pea shrub
erect or decumbent, glabrous or pubescent.
erect, profusely branched;
bark brown, glossy, striped.
alternate, sometimes clustered on spurs, even-pinnate, subpinnate, or appearing palmate [digitate];
stipules present, membranous when young, some with thickened midribs becoming bristle- or spinelike, or spinescent, 1.5–9 mm;
rachis, when present, usually persistent;
petiolate;
leaflets 2–12[–20], opposite, blade margins entire, surfaces villous, glabrate, or glabrous.
appearing palmate or subpinnate;
stipules 1.5–5 mm, sometimes soft-spinose;
petiole 0.2–2 cm, sometimes spine-tipped;
rachis absent;
leaflets 2–4, blades oblong-obovate to cuneate-obovate, 1–2.5 × 0.8–1.4 cm, base cuneate, apex obtuse to acute and apiculate, surfaces glaucous, glabrous.
1–4(or 5)-flowered, axillary, fasciculate or solitary, each peduncle-pedicel 1-flowered;
bracts present, membranous, at base of peduncle, bracteoles present or absent, linear, minute, at base of peduncle and pedicel.
with 1–3 flowers per fascicle;
peduncle-pedicel 1–3 cm, glabrous.
papilionaceous;
calyx persistent, tubular or campanulate, subgibbous, lobes 5, distinct, subequal, much shorter than tube, adaxial 2 usually smaller;
corolla yellow or orange-yellow [rarely white or pink];
stamens 10, diadelphous;
anthers uniform, dorsifixed;
style straight or slightly curved.
calyx tubular, 5–8 mm, teeth broadly triangular, 1–1.5 mm, glabrous, orifice ciliate;
corolla bright yellow, 1.8–2.5 cm.
legumes, sessile, flattened, oblong or linear, dehiscent, non-septate, valves twisting in dehiscence, glabrous.
dark reddish brown, narrowly oblong, 2–4.5 × 0.3–0.4 cm.
[2 or]3–8, monochrome or mottled and streaked, oblong, ovoid, 4-angled, or globose [ellipsoid, subglobose, or reniform], smooth.
6, dark reddish brown, globose to 4-angled, 4–5 mm.
= 8.
= 32.
Caragana
Caragana frutex
Species 70–80 (3 in the flora).
The number and persistence of spines on Caragana species is variable. The leaf rachises may persist after the leaflets fall, becoming woody and spinescent, and may last a few years. The stipules also may become spinescent and persist; plants under cultivation seem to produce relatively few or no spines, which may be relatively short or reduced to a bristle (W. J. Bean 1970–1988, vol. 1).
Some species of Caragana are cold- and drought-resistant. They are cultivated extensively in Canada and the northern United States as ornamentals, for hedges, windbreaks, shelterbelts, and erosion control, and may persist. In addition to the three species treated here, some additional species of Caragana are cultivated in North America, including C. microphylla Lamarck, C. pygmaea de Candolle, C. sinica (Buc’hoz) Rehder, and C. spinosa de Candolle. Some of these are found only in arboreta or in specialty collections; others are more common. The three species treated here are the only taxa known to have become naturalized in the flora area.
Caragana needs worldwide revision because species boundaries are uncertain in some taxa; names associated with some plants growing in cultivation are doubtful.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Caragana frutex is known to be cultivated in Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Some named cultivars or varieties of C. frutex are based on growth form, leaflet size, etc.; none are recognized here.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Leaves even-pinnate, leaflets 6–12(or 14). | C. arborescens |
1. Leaves appearing palmate or subpinnate, leaflets 2–4. | → 2 |
2. Leaflet blades oblanceolate to linear-oblanceolate, mostly curved or sickle-shaped, 0.1–0.3(–0.4) cm wide. | C. aurantiaca |
2. Leaflet blades oblong-obovate to cuneate-obovate, not curved, 0.8–1.4 cm wide. | C. frutex |
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
