Acmispon glaber

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Acmispon glaber
Lotus scoparius.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Acmispon
Species:
A. glaber
Binomial name
Acmispon glaber
(Vogel) Brouillet
Synonyms

Lotus scoparius(Nutt.) Ottley

Curved fruits of Acmispon glaber Acmispon glaber seeds.png
Curved fruits of Acmispon glaber

Acmispon glaber (previously Lotus scoparius) (common deerweed, deer weed, deervetch, California broom or western bird's-foot trefoil) is a perennial subshrub in the family Fabaceae (pea family). [1] The plant is a pioneer species found in dry areas of California, Arizona, and Mexico. It is commonly found in many areas including chaparral, coastal sand and roadsides at elevations below 1500 m.

Contents

Description

The Acmispon glaber stems are green, erect, somewhat branched, with small, deciduous, pinnate leaves consisting of three to six leaflets. The plant blooms from about March to August and has flowers that are bilateral, small (7–11 mm), yellow, and clustered together in an inflorescence consisting of two to seven flowers in the upper leaf axils. The flowers become reddish with age. The fruit consists of a curved legume with two seeds.

Ecology

Acmispon glaber is a food consumed by numerous wildlife, providing intake for hummingbirds, bees, butterfly larvae, and deer. [2] Among the larvae are the Acmon blue, Afranius duskywing, Avalon scrub hairstreak, bramble hairstreak, funereal duskywing, northern cloudywing, and at one point in time the extinct Xerces blue. [3] Common plant associates in chaparral, especially in the transition between coastal chaparral and coastal sage scrub, include California sagebrush and toyon. [4]

Landowners seeking to provide a home for reintroducing the Palos Verdes blue butterfly have been required to have sufficient Acmispon glaber plants to provide the butterflies with shelter. [5]

Adult Acmispon glaber plants are usually killed by fire due to their thin epidermis and broom-like foliage that burns easily, but the seeds of Acmispon glaber are scarified by fire and readily germinate in the first rainy season after a fire. For 2 to 3 years after a fire in a sage scrub habitat, the flora consists primarily of herbaceous annuals and short-lived herbaceous perennials, but after the first 2–3 years, Acmispon glaber generally becomes dominant, being gradually replaced by long-lived shrubs after 5–10 years post-fire. [6]

Due to their seeds' fire adaptation, Acmispon glaber benefits from heat scarification in cultivation. Heat treatment significantly increases germination rate. [6]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Rhus ovata</i> Species of tree

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<i>Baccharis pilularis</i> Species of shrub

Baccharis pilularis, called coyote brush, chaparral broom, and bush baccharis, is a shrub in the family Asteraceae native to California, Oregon, Washington, and Baja California. There are reports of isolated populations in New Mexico, most likely introduced.

<i>Eriogonum fasciculatum</i> Species of flowering shrub

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<i>Prunus ilicifolia</i> Species of tree

Prunus ilicifolia is native to the chaparral areas of coastal California, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. as well as the desert chaparral areas of the Mojave Desert.

<i>Lupinus perennis</i> Species of legume

Lupinus perennis is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae.

<i>Ceanothus cuneatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ceanothus cuneatus is a species of flowering shrub known by the common names buckbrush and wedgeleaf ceanothus.

<i>Astragalus trichopodus</i> Species of legume

Astragalus trichopodus is a species of legume known by the common name Santa Barbara milk vetch. It is native to southern California and Baja California, where it grows in several types of open habitat, including in the Transverse Ranges and Mojave Desert.

<i>Astragalus brauntonii</i> Species of legume

Astragalus brauntonii is a rare species of milkvetch known by the common name Braunton's milkvetch. It is endemic to California, where it is known from fewer than 20 extant occurrences in the hills and mountains surrounding the Los Angeles Basin in Southern California, as well as an isolated population in northern Baja California. This is a federally listed endangered species in the United States.

<i>Acmispon argophyllus</i> Species of legume

Acmispon argophyllus, synonym Lotus argophyllus, is a species of legume native to California and northwest Mexico. It is known by the common name silver bird's-foot trefoil or silver lotus.

<i>Acmispon cytisoides</i> Species of legume

Acmispon cytisoides, synonyms Lotus benthamii and Syrmatium cytisoides, is a species of legume native to California. It is known by the common names Bentham's broom and Bentham's deerweed. It is endemic to central California, where it occurs along the Central Coast and into the coastal mountain ranges. It grows in oceanside habitat and inland on slopes and in canyons. It is a mat-forming or spreading perennial herb lined with leaves each made up of a few oval leaflike leaflets up to 12 mm long. The inflorescence bears up to 10 dull pinkish dark-veined flowers, each just under 1 cm long.

<i>Acmispon dendroideus</i> Species of legume

Acmispon dendroideus, synonym Syrmatium veatchii, is a species of legume native to California. It is known by the common name island broom. It is endemic to the Channel Islands of California, where it grows on coastal bluffs and cliffs. It is a spreading perennial herb or erect shrub approaching 2 meters in height. It is hairless to hairy and gray-green in color. The branches lined with leaves each made up of a few oval leaflike leaflets up to 1.5 centimeters long each. The inflorescence bears up to 10 yellow pealike flowers, each roughly a centimeter long and fading red as they age.

<i>Acmispon grandiflorus</i> Species of legume

Acmispon grandiflorus, synonym Lotus grandiflorus, is a species of legume native to western North America. It is known by the common name chaparral bird's-foot trefoil.

Acmispon junceus, synonyms Lotus junceus and Syrmatium junceum, is a species of legume native to California. It is known by the common names rush broom and rush deervetch. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the northern and central coast and the coastal mountain ranges. It can be found from beaches inland to serpentine slopes and chaparral. It is a hairy, prostrate or spreading perennial herb lined with leaves each made up of small oval leaflets. The inflorescence bears up 8 yellow pealike flowers each up to about a centimeter long. The fruit is a small beaked legume pod.

<i>Acmispon maritimus</i> Species of legume

Acmispon maritimus, synonym Lotus salsuginosus, is a species of legume native to Arizona, California and northwestern Mexico. It is known by the common name coastal bird's-foot trefoil. It grows in many types of mountain, desert, and scrub habitat, not necessarily near the coast. It is an annual herb quite variable in morphology, from petite to bushy, hairless to roughly hairy, and prostrate to erect in form. The slender stems are lined with leaves each made up of pairs of leaflets variable in shape and size. The inflorescence is a small array of 1 to 4 yellow flowers, each up to a centimeter long or so. The elongated flower corolla emerges from a tubular calyx of sepals. The fruit is a legume pod up to 3 centimeters long. Laboratory studies have shown this species, which occurs in wildfire-prone habitat such as chaparral, to have an increased rate of seed germination after exposure to heat.

<i>Erynnis funeralis</i> Species of butterfly

Erynnis funeralis, commonly known as the funereal duskywing, is a species of butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found from southern United States, south to Argentina and Chile. Strays can be found north up to northern Illinois, north-eastern Nebraska, central Colorado, southern Nevada and central California.

<i>Sidalcea malviflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Sidalcea malviflora is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family, known by the common names dwarf checkerbloom, Greek mallow, prairie mallow and dwarf checkermallow.

<i>Thermopsis macrophylla</i> Species of legume

Thermopsis macrophylla is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Santa Inez goldenbanner and Santa Ynez false-lupine.

<i>Acmispon rigidus</i> Species of legume

Acmispon rigidus, synonyms Lotus rigidus and Ottleya rigida, is a flowering plant in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is known as shrubby deervetch or desert rock-pea. It is found in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert.

References

  1. USDA, 2008
  2. Theodore Payne Foundation, 2006
  3. The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.
  4. C.M. Hogan, 2008
  5. "Rare butterfly experiences baby boom". UPI.com. 2008-03-18. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
  6. 1 2 Montalvo, A. M.; Riordan, E. C.; Beyers, Jan (2017). "Plant Profile for Acmispon glaber (=Lotus scoparius), Updated 2017". Native Plant Recommendations for Southern California Ecoregions.