Pediomelum hypogaeum |
|||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
scurfpea, subterranean Indian breadroot |
|||||||||
Habit | Herbs usually acaulescent, rarely subacaulescent, to 25 cm, pubescent throughout and eglandular or sparsely glandular with pale, sunken obscure glands on leaflets and/or calyx tubes only. | ||||||||
Stems | short-erect, with decumbent laterals, decumbent stems 0–6 cm, overtopped by leaves, leaves clustered; pseudoscapes usually 1, unbranched, rarely 2, 0.5–9.5 cm; cataphylls 5–20 mm. |
||||||||
Leaves | palmately (3–)5-foliolate; stipules persistent, linear-lanceolate to elliptic, 4–19 × 2–6 mm, appressed-pubescent; petiole not obviously jointed basally, (20–)30–210 mm; petiolules 1–3 mm; leaflet blades elliptic to lanceolate, oblanceolate, or rhombic, 1–7.5 × 0.3–4 cm, base cuneate, apex acuminate, surfaces glabrate to sparsely pubescent. |
||||||||
Inflorescences | disjointing in age at peduncle base, ovate to oblong; rachis 0.5–6 cm, elongating slightly in fruit, nodes 3–15, 3 flowers per node, internodes crowded in flower, elongating to 25 mm in fruit; bracts mostly persistent or very tardily deciduous, linear to oblanceolate or rhombic, 3–11 × 1.5–4.5 mm, appressed-pubescent. |
||||||||
Peduncles | 1–14 cm, shorter than subtending petiole, subappressed-pubescent. |
||||||||
Pedicels | 1–5 mm. |
||||||||
Flowers | 11–18 mm; calyx weakly gibbous-campanulate in fruit, 9–15 mm abaxially, 6–14 mm adaxially, usually eglandular, very rarely glandular on tube, pubescent; tube 2.5–6 mm; lobes subulate or linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, abaxial 6–10 × 1.5–3(–4) mm, adaxial 4.5–9 × 1–1.5 mm; corolla lavender to purple, banner paler, sometimes also marginally white, elliptic to obovate, 11–18 × 4–7 mm with claw 2–5 mm, wings 11–16 × 2–3 mm with claw 3.5–6 mm, keel 6–12 × 2–3 mm with claw 2.5–7 mm; filaments 6–11 mm; anthers round to elliptic, 0.3–0.5 mm; ovary glabrous or pubescent apically, style pubescent basally. |
||||||||
Legumes | ellipsoid-lanceoloid to oblong, 5–6.5 × 3–5 mm, eglandular, glabrous or slightly pubescent, beak 7–19 mm, exserted beyond calyx. |
||||||||
Seed | red-brown or gray, globose-reniform, 4–5 × 2.5–3.5 mm, smooth to somewhat rugose. |
||||||||
2n | = 22. |
||||||||
Pediomelum hypogaeum |
|||||||||
Distribution |
w United States; c United States
|
||||||||
Discussion | Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). J. W. Grimes (1990) recognized three varieties under Pediomelum hypogaeum. Many specimens exist with intermediate traits that obscure strong delineations between taxa. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||||||
Key |
|
||||||||
Source | FNA vol. 11. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Pediomelum | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | |||||||||
Subordinate taxa | |||||||||
Synonyms | Psoralea hypogaea | ||||||||
Name authority | (Nuttall) Rydberg in N. L. Britton et al.: N. Amer. Fl. 24: 21. (1919) | ||||||||
Web links |