Psorothamnus spinosus

PLANT : Generally leafless trees, divaricately branched, densely thorny, to 7 meters tall; glands prominent. LEAVES : early deciduous, simple, oblong to obovate, 3-22 mm long, 2-5 mm wide. FLOWERS : in a lax, open raceme; calyx teeth 0.8-1.5 mm long, shorter than the tube. FRUIT : 4.2-5.3 mm long, glabrous except for marginal hairs at apex; with prominent glands. NOTES : Sandy washes and roadsides where moisture collects: La Paz, Maricopa, Mohave, Pima, Yavapai, and Yuma, cos. (Fig. 2D); 60-750 m (200-2400 ft); mainly Jun; CA, NV; Baja C., Son., Mex. REFERENCES : Rhodes, Suzanne, June Beasley and Tina Ayers. 2011. Fabaceae. CANOTIA 7: 1-13.

Wojciechowski & Isely 2014 (Jepson Online)

Common Name: smoketree Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Tree General: Shrub to small tree 1.5--8 m, generally leafless, gray-canescent. Leaves: simple, 0.5--2 cm, oblanceolate, thick, gland-dotted, deciduous by early summer. Flowers: Inflorescence: generally open, 5--15-flowered; axis ending as thorn; pedicels +- 1 mm, bractlets 2. Flower: calyx 4.5--5 mm, lobes < tube, glands forming lateral ring; corolla 6--8 mm, indigo-blue, glands +- 0. Fruits: Fruit: >= calyx, plump-obovate, gland-dotted. Ecology: Common. Desert washes; Elevation: < 400 m. flowers June-July, and occasionally in Oct-Nov. Distribution: s CA, AZ; south to nw MEX Synonyms: Asagraea spinosa, Dalea spinosa, Parosela spinosa, Psorodendron spinosum Editor: pasted from Jepson, no editing