''Acmispon maritimus'',
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
''Lotus salsuginosus'', is a species of
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 ...
native to
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and northwestern
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
.
[ 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
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 ...
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 sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...
s. The fruit is a 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 up to 3 centimeters long. Laboratory studies have shown this species, which occurs in wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
-prone habitat such as chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...
, to have an increased rate of seed germination
Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...
after exposure to heat.[Keeley, J. E. & S. C. Keeley. (1987)]
Role of fire in the germination of chaparral herbs and suffrutescents
''Madroño'' 34:3.
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment
USDA Plants Profile
Acmispon maritimus
at CalFlora. Accessed 4/27/2020
Acmispon maritimus var. brevivexillus at CalFLora
Acmispon maritimus photo gallery
at Cal Photos
{{taxonbar, from1=Q15520504, from2=Q39108827, from3=Q5231839
maritimus
Flora of Arizona
Flora of California
Flora of Northwestern Mexico
Flora without expected TNC conservation status