''Chamaebatia australis'' is a species of aromatic evergreen

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

in the rose family known by the common names southern mountain misery and southern bearclover. This uncommon shrub is native to the

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 ...

slopes of

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

and northern

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 has very dark bark, and is covered in a foliage of 2-pinnate leaves, meaning leaves which are made up of small leaflets which are further divided themselves into tiny leaflets, giving the foliage a fernlike appearance. Each leaf is a gland-dotted frond of 3 to 8 centimeters in length. The flowers are roselike with small rounded white petals and yellow centers filled with many

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. The fruit is a leathery

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
Dryadoideae Flora of California Flora of Baja California Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Rosaceae-stub