Hebecarpa obscura

Kearney and Peebles 1969, Martin and Hutchins 1980

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Subshrub General: Herbaceous perennials, pubescent, the hairs of the stem all incurved or subappressed, leaves and capsules not gland-dotted. Leaves: Middle and upper leaves dimorphic, the lower ones broader and shorter than the upper ones, 6-12 mm wide. Flowers: Small, with wing petals greenish-purple or violet, keel petals not crested or beaked, borne in loose, terminal racemes, sometimes few or solitary in the leaf axils, petals united below. Fruits: Capsule 2-celled, pubescent, thin, flat, dehiscent. Seeds with a small vein-like protruberance near the hilum. Ecology: Found among live-oaks from 3,500-6,000 ft (1067-1829 m); flowering July-September. Distribution: AZ, NM, w TX; south to s MEX. Notes: Very similar to P. barbeyana but has pubescence on the margins and sides of the fruits and wider leaves. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Polygala is from Greek polys, many or much, and gala, milk, while obscura means obscured or clouded. Synonyms: Polygala orthotricha Editor: LCrumbacher 2011, FSCoburn 2014