Pomaria jamesii

Allred and Ivey 2012, Heil et al. 2013, Correll and Johnston 1970, McDougall 1973

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Perennial herb, 5-30 cm tall, from a stout taproot and underground caudex; stems erect or ascending, generally clustered, with the lowest 3-5 cm of the stems underground; herbage glandular-punctate. Leaves: Alternate and bipinnately compound, on petioles about 2 cm long; leaves with 2-3 pairs of pinnae, plus a single pinnna at the top; each pinna with 5-10 pairs of ovate leaflets, these 3-5 mm long and conspicuously covered with black glands. Flowers: Yellow to orange, in loose 5-15 flowered axillary racemes which sometimes rise above the leaves; flowers up to about 1 cm long, spreading to nodding in the raceme, and slightly asymmetrical (caesalpinioid); sepals 5, gland-covered, 5-6 mm long; petals 5, yellow and fading to orange or orange-red, 6-9 mm long, spotted with glands. Fruits: Pods flat and half-moon shaped, 2-3 cm long, covered with glands and stellate hairs; dehiscing (splitting open) to release 2-3 seeds. Ecology: Found in dry sandy or alluvial soils, especially on sand dunes and in pinyon-juniper woodland, from 4,500-6,500 ft (1372-1981 m); flowers May-August. Distribution: NE and CO, south to TX, NM and AZ Notes: Look for this species under Hoffmannseggia jamesii or Caesalpinia jamesii in older texts. With its bipinnate leaves and seed pods which are flat, half-moon shaped, and covered with glands, it strongly resembles Hoffmannseggia glauca. However, H. glauca is covered with stipitate glands which are often red (these are glands on little stalks; use your hand lens). This species, on the other hand, is covered with black punctate glands. It also resembles H. drepanocarpa, but that species is much smaller and not covered with glands. Look for P. jamesii in sandy areas, where the first couple inches of the stems will be buried in sand. Ethnobotany: Zuni gave an infusion to sheep to make them prolific. Etymology: Pomaria honors Jaime Horatio Pomar (1550-1606), physician to King Phillip III of Spain; jamesii honors Edwin P. James (1797-1861), first botanical collector of the central Rockies. Synonyms: Caesalpinia jamesii, Hoffmannseggia jamesii Editor: AHazelton 2017