Acmispon humistratus

Wiggins 1964, Kearney and Peebles 1969

Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Annual forb with erect, ascending, or decumbent stems 0.5-20 cm long, whole plant is densely villous with white to slightly tawny, soft hairs. Leaves: Petioles short, rarely over 5 mm long, rachises of leaves flattened, 5-8 mm long, leaflets 3-5, broadly elliptic to obovate, 2-6 mm wide, 4-15 mm long, cuneate at base, acute to rounded at apex. Flowers: Subsessile, solitary or in paris in axils of leaves, calyx tube 2-2.5 mm long, yellow tinged with red or rose. Fruits: Pods 2-3 mm wide, 5-10 mm long densely villous. Ecology: Found on dry gravelly slopes and sandy flats from 5,000 ft (1524 m) and below; flowers March-June. Distribution: s OR, CA, NV, s ID, s UT, AZ, s NM; south to n MEX. Notes: Distinguished by being a prostrate to ascending annual, often hugging the ground; the foliage with dense, soft, spreading hairs, making plants feel soft to the touch and sometimes appearing silver-gray-green; and the small, yellow to orange pea flowers. Ethnobotany: Infusion of plant taken and used as a wash by women in labor by Karok (CA). Etymology: Acmispon comes from the Greek acme for point or hook, while humistratus means low laying. Synonyms: Lotus humistratus, Hosackia brachycarpa Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015