Pediomelum castoreum
Encyclopedia
Pediomelum castoreum is a species of flowering plant in the legume family
known by the common name beaver Indian breadroot. It is native to the deserts around the intersection of California
, Nevada
, and Arizona
, where it grows in local habitat including disturbed areas. It is a perennial herb with no stem or a short stem that is mostly underground, leaving the plant at ground level. The compound leaves are each made up of five or six oval leaflets which may be over 4 centimeters long. The leaf is borne on a long petiole
. The inflorescence
is a raceme
of several blue or purple pealike flowers each roughly a centimeter long. The fruit is a hairy oval legume pod tipped with a long, curved beak. It contains ridged gray seeds each about 6 millimeters long.
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 beaver Indian breadroot. It is native to the deserts around the intersection of 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...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, where it grows in local habitat including disturbed areas. It is a perennial herb with no stem or a short stem that is mostly underground, leaving the plant at ground level. The compound leaves are each made up of five or six oval leaflets which may be over 4 centimeters long. The leaf is borne on a long petiole
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
. The 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...
is a raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
of several blue or purple pealike flowers each roughly a centimeter long. The fruit is a hairy oval legume pod tipped with a long, curved beak. It contains ridged gray seeds each about 6 millimeters long.