Psorodendron arborescens

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Mojave indigo bush
California indigo bush (Psorothamnus arborescens var. simplicifolius) (16768840710).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
Clade: Dalbergioids
Tribe: Amorpheae
Genus: Psorodendron
Species:
P. arborescens
Binomial name
Psorodendron arborescens
Synonyms [1]
  • Dalea amoenaS.Watson
  • Dalea arborescensTorr. ex A.Gray (1854) (basionym)
  • Dalea californicaS.Watson
  • Dalea saundersiiParish
  • Parosela amoena(S.Watson) Vail
  • Parosela arborescens(Torr. ex A.Gray) A.Heller
  • Parosela californica(S.Watson) Vail
  • Parosela neglectaParish
  • Parosela saundersii(Parish) Abrams
  • Parosela wheeleriVail
  • Psorodendron amoenum(S.Watson) Rydb.
  • Psorodendron californicum(S.Watson) Rydb.
  • Psorodendron pubescens(Parish) Rydb.
  • Psorodendron saundersii(Parish) Rydb.
  • Psorodendron wheeleri(Vail) Rydb.
  • Psorothamnus arborescens(Torr. ex A.Gray) Barneby

Psorodendron arborescens is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Mojave indigo bush.

Contents

Distribution and habitat

Psorodendron arborescens is native to southwestern North America, where it can be found in many types of desert and dry mountainous habitats. It grows at 100–1,900 metres (330–6,230 ft) in elevation. [2]

It is found in the Californian Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert, south into the Sonoran Desert in the Mexican state of Sonora, east past the Sierra Nevada into the Nevada Great Basin Desert, and west into the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California. [2] [3] Also found in northwest Arizona in the Joshua Tree National Forest.

Description

Psorodendron arborescens is a shrub growing no more than 1 metre (3.3 ft) tall, its highly branching stems sometimes with thorns. The leaves are each made up of a few pairs of green linear to oval leaflets up to a centimeter in length. [2]

The inflorescence is a long raceme of many flowers with reddish green calyces of sepals and bright purple pealike corollas up to a centimeter long.

The fruit is a glandular legume pod up to a centimeter long containing one seed. The seed pod is the only way to tell the difference between P. arborescens and the very similar species, P. fremontii . [4]

References

  1. "Psorodendron arborescens (Torr. ex A.Gray) Rydb". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 12 July 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Jepson: P. arborescens . accessed 12.1.2011
  3. USDA
  4. Adams Jr., James D. (1 October 2005). "Psorothamnus fremontii and Psorothamnus arborescens (Fabaceae) in California". Madroño. 52 (4): 258–261. doi:10.3120/0024-9637(2005)52[258:PFAPAF]2.0.CO;2. S2CID   86663253.