Pediomelum epipsilum |
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Kane breadroot |
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Habit | Herbs clump-forming, acaulescent or subcaulescent, 3–16(–22) cm, mostly glandular (with obvious blond to dark brown glands) and pubescent throughout. |
Stems | short-erect, unbranched or branched, with 2–5 internodes, sometimes with decumbent lateral stems to 22 cm, strigose to ascending-hairy, leaves appearing clustered basally or on tips of some lateral stems, or dispersed along more elongated stems; pseudoscapes to 4.5 cm; cataphylls to 15 mm. |
Leaves | palmately 5(–8)-foliolate; stipules persistent, lanceolate to slightly elliptic, 5–11 × 2.5–4.5 mm, pubescent; petiole jointed basally, 50–80(–100) mm; petiolules 0.5–2 mm; leaflet blades obovate to oblanceolate or ± rhombic, 1.5–2.5(–4) × 1.2–2.5 cm, base cuneate or attenuate, apex broadly acute to rounded, surfaces bicolor, abaxially glandular, cinereous, adaxially bright green, glabrous or sparsely strigose only along base of veins. |
Inflorescences | disjointing in age at peduncle base, subglobose to elongate; rachis 1.4–4 cm, elongating in fruit, nodes 4–9, (1–)3(or 4) flowers per node, internodes relatively short or to 10 mm; bracts persistent to tardily deciduous, ovate to broadly lanceolate, 13–18(–22) × 6–10 mm, apex caudate, pubescent. |
Peduncles | 1.4–5 cm, shorter than subtending petiole, pubescent with erect-ascending hairs. |
Pedicels | 2–4 mm. |
Flowers | 14–19 mm; calyx gibbous-campanulate in fruit, (10–)11–16(–18) mm abaxially, (9–)10–15(–16) mm adaxially, tube glandular, pubescent; tube 5–6(–8) mm; lobes linear-lanceolate to elliptic, abaxial 6.5–10 × 2–3 mm, adaxial 6–9 × 1–1.5 mm, glandular or eglandular; corolla purple, banner sometimes paler, oblanceolate, 14–19 × 5–7 mm with claw 6–9 mm, wings 9–18 × 2–3 mm with claw 6–9 mm, keel (10–)12–16 × 2–3 mm with claw 7–9 mm; filaments 11–16 mm; anthers elliptic, 0.3 mm; ovary pubescent or only apically, style pubescent basally. |
Legumes | ovoid, 6–9 × 4–4.5 mm, eglandular, pubescent, beak 5–8 mm, ± equal to calyx. |
Seed | brown, reniform, 4–5 × 3 mm, shiny. |
Pediomelum epipsilum |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer. |
Habitat | Rocky to clay soils, pine or juniper woodlands, desert shrub communities. |
Elevation | 1600–1700 m. (5200–5600 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; UT |
Discussion | Pediomelum epipsilum is known from Coconino and Mohave counties in Arizona and Kane County in Utah. It has been variously treated at specific and varietal rank, but bract and leaflet morphology, as well as phylogenetic data (A. N. Egan and K. A. Crandall 2008, 2008b), support recognition of the taxon at the rank of species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Psoralea epipsila, P. megalanthum var. epipsilum |
Name authority | (Barneby) S. L. Welsh: Great Basin Naturalist 46: 257. (1986) |
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