Ebenopsis confinis

Last updated

Dog poop bush
Ebenopsis confinis-- Palo Fierro pods (26839967410).jpg
The fruits, which allegedly resemble dog poop
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Ebenopsis
Species:
E. confinis
Binomial name
Ebenopsis confinis
(Standl.) Barneby & J.W.Grimes, 1996
Synonyms

Pithecellobium confineStandl. 1919

Ebenopsis confinis is a species of drought deciduous perennial shrubs in the Legume family known commonly as dog poop bush. The English vernacular name is a result of the distinctive woody fruits which resemble dog poop. The plant is referred to locally as palo fierro. In addition to the fruits, this species is characterized by its small, equally-paired pinnate leaves and a condensed capitulum. This species is distributed from southern Baja California to the cape of Baja California Sur, and on the coast of Sonora. [1]

Contents

Description

This species is a stiffly branched, drought deciduous multi-stemmed large shrub to small tree with a spreading crown. The bark is a gray-brown to reddish brown, and is initially smooth but becomes scaly. The twigs are moderately stout and have a pair of spines (stipules) 2 to 8 mm long emerging at the node of each leaf. The leaves are small, alternate and bipinnately compound. [1] [2]

The inflorescence emerges from 1 to 3 peduncles per shoot, 3 to 8 mm long. The flower clusters have around 17 to 35 flowers. The bracts are shaped obovate to cuneate or spatulate, 0.6 to 1 mm large, and persist into anthesis. The calyx is shaped campanulate. The flowers are small, colored yellowish white, and appear as fluffy heads in pom-pom like cluster. The flowers are fragrant. [1] [2]

The distinctive fruit is an oblong pod with a woody texture and blackish coloration, with 8 to 10 seeds. The seeds are large, 11 to 16 mm long and 10 to 13 mm wide. [1]

Taxonomy

This species was first collected by Joseph Nelson Rose in 1911, near Cabo San Lucas. It was first described as Pithecellobium confinie by Paul C. Standley in 1919. It was later combined into the genus Ebenopsis by Rupert C. Barneby and James W. Grimes in 1996 as part of their monograph on the Mimosaceae. [1]

This plant is known locally by the common names ejoton, palo fierro or palo hierro in Spanish. In English, this plant is referred to as dog poop bush, owing to the appearance of the woody fruit pods. [3]

Distribution and habitat

This species is near-endemic to the Baja California Peninsula, distributed from southeast Baja California, in the vicinity of Bahia de los Angeles, south to Baja California Sur, where it is locally plentiful, especially on the Gulf of California slope and the adjacent islands. It is also present on a stretch of coast in Sonora. [3] It grows in a habitat of desert hillsides and thin chaparral below 250 m, usually along washes. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Senegalia greggii</i> Species of tree

Senegalia greggii, formerly known as Acacia greggii, is a species of tree in the genus Senegalia native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, from the extreme south of Utah south through southern Nevada, southeast California, Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas to Baja California, Sinaloa and Nuevo León in Mexico. The population in Utah at 37°10' N is the northernmost naturally occurring Senegalia species anywhere in the world.

<i>Parkinsonia aculeata</i> Species of legume

Parkinsonia aculeata is a species of perennial flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include palo verde, Mexican palo verde, Parkinsonia, Jerusalem thorn, jelly bean tree, palo de rayo, and retama.

Coastal sage scrub Shrubland plant community of california

Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.

<i>Stegnosperma</i> Genus of flowering plants

Stegnosperma is a genus of flowering plants, consisting of three species of woody plants, native to the Caribbean, Central America, and the Sonoran Desert. These are shrubs or lianas, with anomalous secondary thickening in mature stems, by successive cambia.

<i>Ambrosia dumosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Ambrosia dumosa, the burro-weed or white bursage, a North American species of plants in the sunflower family. It is a common constituent of the creosote-bush scrub community throughout the Mojave desert of California, Nevada, and Utah and the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and northwestern Mexico.

<i>Parkinsonia microphylla</i> Species of tree

Parkinsonia microphylla, the yellow paloverde, foothill paloverde or little-leaved palo verde; syn. Cercidium microphyllum), is a species of palo verde.

<i>Parkinsonia florida</i> Species of tree native to the Sonoran Desert

Parkinsonia florida, the blue palo verde, is a species of palo verde native to the Sonoran Deserts in the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. Its name means "green pole or stick" in Spanish, referring to the green trunk and branches, that perform photosynthesis.

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

Rhus ovata, commonly known as sugar bush or sugar sumac, is a shrub or small tree found growing in the canyons and slopes of the chaparral and related ecosystems in Southern California, Arizona, Baja California and Baja California Sur. It is a long lived-plant, up to 100 years, and has dense evergreen foliage that make it conspicuous. It is closely related to and hybridizes with the lemonade sumac.

<i>Mimosa diplotricha</i> Species of plant

Mimosa diplotricha is a species of leguminous woody shrub native to the Neotropics. It is an invasive species and now has a pantropical distribution. It is commonly known as the giant sensitive plant, giant false sensitive plant, or nila grass.

Senna wislizeni, commonly called Wislizenus' senna or shrubby senna. Formerly in the "wastebin taxon" Cassia sensu lato, it is now placed in the genus Senna or sometimes separated in Palmerocassia together with Senna unijuga.

<i>Peucephyllum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Peucephyllum is a monotypic genus of flowering plants containing the single species Peucephyllum schottii. Its common names include pygmy cedar, Schott's pygmy cedar, desert fir, and desert pine. It is not a cedar, fir, or pine, but a member of the aster family, Asteraceae. It is a leafy evergreen shrub with glandular, resinous foliage. It flowers in yellow flower heads which have only disc florets. The fruits are woody, bristly seeds with a pappus. This plant is native to the deserts of Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah in the United States and Baja California and Sonora in northern Mexico.

<i>Bursera microphylla</i> Species of flowering plant

Bursera microphylla, known by the common name elephant tree in English or 'torote' in Spanish, is a tree in genus Bursera. It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.

<i>Condea emoryi</i> Species of flowering plant

Condea emoryi, the desert lavender, is a large, multi-stemmed shrub species of flowering plant in Lamiaceae, the mint family.

<i>Phoradendron californicum</i> Species of flowering plant

Phoradendron californicum, the desert mistletoe or mesquite mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic plant native to southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Sonora, Sinaloa and Baja California. It can be found in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts at elevations of up to 1400 m.

<i>Senna italica</i> Species of legume

Senna italica, the Port Royal senna, Italian senna, or Senegal senna is a legume tree in the genus Senna. It is recognized by many other common names based on the regions it grows in. In India, it is used to produce a powder for treating hair-related diseases which is known as “neutral henna”. Whereas, in some parts of the world, this species is cultivated for the leaves which yield the drug senna, known commonly as Senna glycoside, which in turn is the base for a laxative. Senegal senna is easily distinguishable through its many distinctive features. There are 3 subspecies of this plant based on the size of the inflorescence and the length of the petiole. The subspecies are italica, micrantha, and arachoides. In many regions, this plant is cultivated commercially and medicinally.

<i>Rubus flagellaris</i> Species of shrub

Rubus flagellaris, the northern dewberry, also known as the common dewberry, is a North American species perennial subshrub species of dewberry, in the rose family. This dewberry is distributed across much of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It grows in diverse habitats ranging from drier savannas to temperate deciduous forests.

<i>Ambrosia salsola</i> Species of flowering plant

Ambrosia salsola, commonly called cheesebush, winged ragweed, burrobush, white burrobrush, and desert pearl, is a species of perennial shrub in the sunflower family native to deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.

<i>Scutellaria mexicana</i> Species of shrub

Scutellaria mexicana, commonly known by variants on bladder sage or paperbag bush, is a shrub of the mint family Lamiaceae distinctive for its calyx lobes that develop into small bag- or bladder-like shells around the fruits.

<i>Fouquieria diguetii</i> Species of plant

Fouquieria diguetii, known by the common names Adam's tree and palo Adán, is a plant in the family Fouquieriaceae native to the southern half of the Baja California Peninsula, and the coasts of Sonora and Sinaloa. It is a semi-succulent and deciduous plant related to the ocotillo and the Boojum tree. It is distinguished by its bright red, tubular flowers, a shrub to small tree habit, and conical, paniculate inflorescences.

<i>Lysiloma candidum</i> Species of tree found in Mexico

Lysiloma candidum, most commonly known as the palo blanco, is a tree of the family Fabaceae near-endemic to the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It may grow to a height of 10 metres (33 ft) and is one of the few spineless woody legumes in the region. It has compound leaves with oval gray-green leaflets. The creamy-white, globose clusters of flowers bloom in March through May and perfume the air with a light, spicy fragrance. The flowers are followed by red-brown pods up to 15 centimetres (5.9 in) long that hang delicately on the thin branches. This species is distributed throughout the Baja California Peninsula, from Rancho El Barril in southern Baja California state to the Cape region of Baja California Sur, and is also very rarely found in the state of Sonora.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barneby, Rupert C.; Grimes, James W. (1996). "Silk Tree, Guanacaste, Monkey's Earring: A Generic System for the Synandrous Mimosaceae of the Americas : Abarema, Albizia, and Allies". Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden. 74: 174–178. ISBN   978-0-89327-395-8 via The William & Lynda Steere Herbarium.
  2. 1 2 Seiler, John; Jensen, Edward; Niemiera, Alex; Peterson, John (2021). "Ebenopsis confinis". Virginia Tech Dendrology. Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  3. 1 2 Rebman, J. P.; Gibson, J.; Rich, K. (2016). "Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico" (PDF). San Diego Society of Natural History. 45: 157–158.