''Acmispon decumbens'' is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
in the family
, native to the western United States (Nevada, California) and north-western Mexico (
Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
).
[ It was first described by ]George Bentham
George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...
in 1836 as ''Hosackia decumbens''.[
It grows in several types of habitat, including mountain forest and meadows. It is a spreading or mat-forming perennial herb coated in long hairs. It is lined with leaves each made up of small green oval leaflets. The ]inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
bears up 12 pinkish yellow pealike flowers each a centimeter long or more. The fruit is a slender, bent, beaked legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...
pod.
Varieties
Two varieties are recognized:[
*''Acmispon decumbens'' var. ''decumbens''; synonyms include ''Acmispon nevadensis'' (S.Watson) Brouillet, ''Hosackia heermannii'' L.C.Anderson, ''Syrmatium nevadense'' (S.Watson) Greene
*''Acmispon decumbens'' var. ''davidsonii'' (Greene) Govaerts; synonyms include ''Lotus davidsonii'' Greene
]
References
decumbens
Flora of California
Flora of Nevada
Flora of Northeastern Mexico
Plants described in 1836
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
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