Sphaerophysa salsula

Last updated

Sphaerophysa salsula
Sphaerophysa salsula in bloom in Semey Ormany.jpg
Sphaerophysa salsula in Semey Ormany Nature Reserve, Ozërka, Kazakhstan
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: Sphaerophysa
Species:
S. salsula
Binomial name
Sphaerophysa salsula
Synonyms [1]
List
    • Astragalus iochrous Barneby (1944)
    • Astragalus violaceus R.P.St.John (1929)
    • Colutea caspica M.Bieb. (1808)
    • Colutea davurica Spreng. (1826)
    • Colutea salsula (Pall.) Poir. (1811)
    • Phaca salsula Pall. (1776)
    • Sphaerophysa caspica DC. (1825)
    • Swainsona salsula (Pall.) Taub. (1894)

Sphaerophysa salsula is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names alkali swainsonpea, [2] Austrian peaweed, and red bladder-vetch. It is native to Asia but it is known in many other parts of the world as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. It grows in cultivated land and disturbed habitat, easily tolerating alkaline substrates. It is commonly seen in areas where alfalfa is grown, because the seeds of the two species look similar and the weed seed is easily imported with the crop seed. [3]

Seed pods, at Baikonur, Kazakhstan Sphaerophysa salsula; Baikonur 01.jpg
Seed pods, at Baikonur, Kazakhstan

This is a long-lived perennial herb growing up to 1.5 m tall. It reproduces via seed as well as by sprouting vigorously from its creeping root system. The stems are coated in short white hairs. The leaves are made up of many oval leaflets each up to 2 cm long. The inflorescence is a raceme of several pea-like flowers each just over 1 cm wide. They may be brick-red to deep pink to brownish to red-orange. The fruit is a legume pod up to 3.5 cm long. It is inflated and bladderlike, hairless, translucent, shiny, and papery when dry. It is mottled greenish or reddish. It contains several seeds each about two millimeters long.

Like other legumes, this plant contains endophytes. These include the bacterium Paracoccus sphaerophysae , which was recently isolated from the roots of this species, and named after it. [4] Other rhizobia in this species include Shinella kummerowiae and species of the genera Rhizobium , Agrobacterium , and Mesorhizobium . [5]

References

  1. "Sphaerophysa salsula (Pall.) DC". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  2. NRCS. "Sphaerophysa salsula". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  3. CDFA EncycloWeedia
  4. Deng, Z., et al. (2010). Paracoccus sphaerophysae sp. nov., a siderophore-producing, endophytic bacterium isolated from root nodules of a Sphaerophysa salsula growing in northwestern China. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol.
  5. Xu, L., et al. (2008). Genetic diversity in rhizobia isolated from Sphaerophysa salsula in several regions of northwestern China. Acta Entomologica Sinica 51:5 1017-98.