Hoffmannseggia microphylla
Encyclopedia
Hoffmannseggia microphylla (syn.
Caesalpinia virgata) is a species of flowering plant in the legume family
known by the common name wand holdback. It is native to the southwestern United States and Baja California
, where it grows in sandy and gravelly soils in the deserts.
This is a twiggy shrub
producing many slender, wandlike, mostly naked stems up to two meters tall. The stems are hairy and green and have few leaves for most of the year. Before the leaves fall
, they appear as twigs lined with pairs of small oval-shaped leaflets.
The shrub flowers in scattered raceme inflorescence
s of red-streaked yellow flowers which age to full red. The fruit is a sickle-shaped dehiscent
legume pod up to 2.5 centimeters long. It is bumpy with glands and slightly hairy.
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
Caesalpinia virgata) is a species of flowering plant in the legume family
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...
known by the common name wand holdback. It is native to the southwestern United States and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, where it grows in sandy and gravelly soils in the deserts.
This is a twiggy shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
producing many slender, wandlike, mostly naked stems up to two meters tall. The stems are hairy and green and have few leaves for most of the year. Before the leaves fall
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
, they appear as twigs lined with pairs of small oval-shaped leaflets.
The shrub flowers in scattered raceme inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s of red-streaked yellow flowers which age to full red. The fruit is a sickle-shaped dehiscent
Dehiscence (botany)
Dehiscence is the opening, at maturity, in a pre-defined way, of a plant structure, such as a fruit, anther, or sporangium, to release its contents. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part. Structures that open in this way are said to be dehiscent...
legume pod up to 2.5 centimeters long. It is bumpy with glands and slightly hairy.