Dalea pogonathera

Martin and Hutchins 1980

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Perennial with woody branched stems at base, with branches spreading or prostrate to 30 cm tall, herbage glabrous. Leaves: Pinnately compound with 5-11 leaflets, linear oblong to oblanceolate, 8-20 mm long, involute, obtuse or retuse at the apex. Flowers: In dense oblong or cylindrical spikes 2-6 cm long, ovate floral bracts, mucronate, glandular dotted, shorter than the calyx, calyx densely pubescent, lobes setaceous or subulate, plumose with a purple corolla, 10 stamens. Fruits: Pods villous above. Ecology: Found on open slopes from 4,500-6,500 ft (1372-1981 m); flowers April-September. Distribution: s AZ, NM, sw TX; south to c MEX. Notes: Distinguished by being a pungent-smelling perennial with hairless leaves and stems; leaves with glands dotted throughout and sometimes with a whitish powdery substance (glaucous); and especially the bracts below each flower on the spike which are green in the middle, thin and membranous on the margins, and have conspicuous gland dots throughout (punctate glands). Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Dalea is named for Samuel Dale (1659-1739) an English physician and botanist, while pogonathera means bearded, or with bearded flowers. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015