Hoffmannseggia glauca is a dicot found in the legume family, Fabaceae

Fabaceae

The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...

. Its common names include Indian rushpea, hog potato, and pig nut.

It is a California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 native which prefers alkaline desert flats, creosote bush

Creosote bush

Larrea tridentata is known as Creosote bush as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and as "gobernadora" in Mexico, Spanish for "governess," due to its ability for inhibiting the growth of nearby plants to have more water. In Sonora, it is more commonly called "hediondilla." It is a flowering...

 communities, and disturbed areas. It prefers elevations of less than 900 metres (2,952.8 ft). Hoffmannseggia glauca is found outside California in Western Nevada, Texas, Mexico and South America. In California H. glauca may be found in the San Joaquin Valley

San Joaquin Valley

The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...

, Southern Coastal Ranges, and Western Transverse Ranges

Transverse Ranges

The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region that runs along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie between...

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Description

Hoffmannseggia glauca is an erect perennial herb and can measure up to 30 cm tall. Branches are slender, growing out from the base of the plant, and have stalked glands. The foliage is composed of compound leaves with primary and secondary leaflets. Primary leaflets (5-20 mm) are odd-pinnate while secondary leaflets (4-6 mm) are even-pinnate.

The inflorescence measures 5-15 cm and is glandular. Flowers are orange-red with spreading petals and are produced between the months of April and June. The fruit that develops is 1.5-4 cm, glandular, curved, and short-stalked. The fruit may or may not be deciduous.

The USDA indicates that Hoffmannseggia glauca is considered a noxious weed in Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

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