Flora of North America species comparison

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Peteria

peteria
Habit Herbs, perennial, armed.
Stems

usually erect to ascending, rarely scandent, young growth ± sericeous.
Leaves

alternate, odd-pinnate;

stipules present, persistent, spinescent;

rachis canaliculate;

petiolate;

leaflets 7–31, usually opposite, rarely alternate, stipels absent, blade margins entire, surfaces glabrate to sericeous or strigose.
Inflorescences

8–100+-flowered, leaf-opposed appearing terminal, racemes;

bracts present, persistent, subulate, sometimes spine-tipped, bracteoles absent.
Flowers

papilionaceous;

calyx tubular, lobes 5;

corolla whitish, sometimes with purplish tinge, 14–22 mm, glabrous;

stamens 10, diadelphous;

anthers basifixed, relatively small, dehiscing longitudinally;

style glabrous, with pollen brush tufted distally;

stigma terminal, capitate, ciliate.
Fruits

legumes, sessile, laterally compressed, linear [elliptic], elastically dehiscent, glabrous.
Seeds

2–5[–7], cylindric;

hilum apical.
x

= 8, 9.

Peteria
Distribution
from USDA
w United States; sc United States; Mexico
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 4 (2 in the flora).

Peteria is native to the Chihuahuan and Great Basin deserts and nearby regions, and to Mexican pine forests (M. Lavin and M. Sousa S. 1995).

Peteria is distinguished from other temperate herbaceous legume genera by the combination of terminal racemes, spinescent stipels, and cylindric (or at least not strongly compressed) seeds. Plants in Peteria produce edible tubers borne from rhizomes.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaflet blades usually broadly elliptic to orbiculate, rarely narrowly elliptic, 12–21 mm; racemes congested, flowering internodes 1–5(–12) mm, usually with more than 2 consecutive flowers simultaneously at anthesis; banners 16–22 mm; n Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, adjacent California, Utah.
P. thompsoniae
1. Leaflet blades linear to narrowly elliptic, 3–6(–9) mm; racemes loose, flowering internodes (3–)5–35 mm, rarely with more than 1 flower reaching anthesis at a time; banners 14–16 mm; n Arizona, New Mexico, adjacent sw Colorado, Texas.
P. scoparia
Source FNA vol. 11. Author: Matt Lavin.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae
Subordinate taxa
P. scoparia, P. thompsoniae
Name authority A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 3(5): 50. (1852)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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