Hoffmannseggia glauca
Hoffmannseggia
hoffmanseggia, hog potato, Indian rushpea, pig-nut
rush-pea
erect, spreading, or decumbent, woody or herbaceous and glabrous, pubescent, or puberulent, sometimes also stipitate-glandular.
38–150 ×13–42 mm;
stipules ovate, 1.5–4 × 1.5–3 mm, ciliate;
pinnae 4–13;
leaflets 7–27 per pinna, blades obtuse-ovate, 2–6 × 1–4.5 mm, surfaces strigose abaxially, glabrous adaxially.
alternate, odd-bipinnate;
stipules present, persistent, margins entire; petiolate;
pinnae 1–13, opposite;
leaflets 7–27 per pinna, blade margins entire, surfaces glabrous or pubescent.
4–15-flowered, terminal, 5–23 cm;
rachis and pedicels puberulent to strigose and stipitate-glandular.
3–27-flowered, terminal or axillary, racemes;
bracts reduced or absent.
turning downward, broadly flared, 10–16 × 10–18 mm;
calyx persistent, densely pubescent abaxially, with multicellular, glandular trichomes;
banner yellow, drying pink with red markings, 5–14 × 5 mm, conspicuous multicellular, glandular trichomes on claw and abaxial surface, with few hairs at base of folded claw adaxially;
lateral petals bright yellow, 13 × 6 mm, with multicellular, glandular trichomes on claw margins and base abaxially.
caesalpinioid, zygomorphic;
calyx persistent in fruit or jaggedly dehiscent prior to fruiting, slightly imbricate or valvate, lobes 5;
corolla yellow, orange-yellow, or yellow-pink to rose, petals spatulate, claw differentiated from blade, banner claw usually concave, sometimes with trichomes in fold, sometimes surfaces and margins with glandular trichomes abaxially;
stamens 10, basally connate, subequal, ± length of petals;
filaments with clear, multicellular processes primarily basally;
anthers dorsifixed, dehiscing introrsely;
ovary elongate, laterally compressed;
stipe relatively short;
style as long as or longer than ovary;
stigma terminal or obliquely so, impressed.
legumes, stipitate, compressed laterally, falcate, lunate, trapezoidal, rectangular, oblong, suborbicular, or arcuate, dehiscent or indehiscent (when dehiscent, valves separating and flaring outward or each valve twisting spirally around itself), usually puberulent or pubescent.
tan, rectangular to arcuate, sometimes expanded near apex, 20–40 × 5–8 mm, indehiscent, margins ± parallel, obscure, apex obtuse to acute;
valves flat, sparsely tomentose, with a few scattered multicellular, glandular trichomes appearing as brown dots.
1–10.
1–11, compressed, usually ovoid or elliptic in outline, 2–7 × 1.5–6 mm;
funiculus attached obliquely to seed creating shoulder at apex.
= 12.
= 24.
Hoffmannseggia glauca
Hoffmannseggia
Hoffmannseggia glauca is considered a noxious weed in agricultural and pasture lands of the middle and southwestern United States, spreading aggressively by tuberous roots. While it is possible that it was introduced into North America by humans, historical use of the tubers by indigenous people in the American Southwest indicates a long association and, perhaps, natural long-distance dispersal from South America.
Hoffmannseggia falcaria Cavanilles, an illegitimate and superfluous name, pertains here.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Species 22 (7 in the flora).
Hoffmannseggia occurs amphitropically in arid and semiarid regions of North America and semiarid and Andean areas of South America.
A molecular phylogenetic study of Hoffmannseggia (B. B. Simpson et al. 2004b) has shown that it consists of a woody clade and an herbaceous clade. Biogeographic studies (Simpson et al. 2004c) indicate that there have been four independent colonizations of North America from South America, two in each clade. While species of Hoffmannseggia often resemble those of Caesalpinia (in the broad sense) and Pomaria, phylogenetic studies have shown that the closest relatives of Hoffmannseggia are the South American Balsamocarpon Clos, Stenodrepanum Harms, and Zuccagnia Cavanilles (M. J. Nores et al. 2012). Larrea Ortega (1797 type L. glauca Ortega) was rejected in favor of conservation of Hoffmannseggia.
Leaf length given for each species below includes length of the petiole. Glandular trichomes are secretory and usually slightly bulbous at the tip.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Shrubs; pinnae 3; legumes lunate or falcate in outline (wider in middle), dehiscent, valves simply flaring, slightly twisted, or each spirally twisted around itself. | → 2 |
2. Shrubs 50–250 cm, erect; terminal pinna longer than laterals; flowers 12–15 mm; calyces falling. | H. microphylla |
2. Shrubs to 30 cm, spreading; terminal pinna shorter than laterals; flowers 5–8 mm; calyces persistent. | H. drummondii |
1. Herbs or subshrubs; pinnae (3–)5–13; legumes trapezoidal, arcuate, broadly oblong to suborbicular, falcate, or rectangular in outline, indehiscent or dehiscent and each valve spirally twisted around itself. | → 3 |
3. Calyces and pedicels abaxially villous, puberulent to strigose, or densely pubescent and stipitate-glandular. | → 4 |
4. Banner claw margins sparsely stipitate-glandular; legumes trapezoidal in outline, dehiscent, valves each tightly spirally twisted around itself after separating, pubescent to sparsely villous and stipitate-glandular. | H. oxycarpa |
4. Banner claw margins notably stipitate-glandular; legumes rectangular or arcuate, indehiscent, valves flat, sparsely tomentose and sparsely stipitate-glandular. | H. glauca |
3. Calyces and pedicels abaxially pubescent, puberulent, tomentose, or strigose, trichomes eglandular. | → 5 |
5. Legumes flat, arcuate (sometimes forming nearly a full circle), apices round. | H. drepanocarpa |
5. Legumes ± undulate, broadly oblong, rectangular, or suborbicular, straight, apices acute. | → 6 |
6. Flowers 6–10 mm; legumes 5–6 mm wide; Texas. | H. tenella |
6. Flowers 12–15 mm; legumes 10–20 mm wide; Colorado, Utah. | H. repens |
CA
KS Wildflowers
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
