Jepson Herbarium
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Perennial [ shrub], fleshy.
Stem: branched.
Leaf: alternate, simple to irregularly divided, occasionally toothed or lobed; stipules minute or leaf-like.
Inflorescence: flowers 1 [or in cymes].
Flower: radial, bisexual; sepals 3–5; petals 3–5; stamens (10)15; ovary superior, chambers 2–6, each with [1,6] many ovules, style at tip or basal.
Fruit: capsule [ berry, drupe].
4 genera, 16 species: generally ± arid regions, n hemisphere, Australia. [The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group 2003 Bot J Linn Soc 141:399–436] Based on molecular, anatomical, and morphological evidence, The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2003) indicates that Peganum and Nitraria, sometimes placed in Zygophyllaceae, are widely separated from Zygophyllaceae sensu stricto, and probably should be placed in a different family, in a different order (Sapindales) than Zygophyllaceae (Zygophyllales). —Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.

Plant < 1 m; branches, leaves dense.
Stem: from woody rhizome, herbaceous.
Leaf: alternate, deeply, irregularly 2-ternately or ternately-pinnately lobed, fleshy; lobes 2–6 cm, linear, acute to abruptly soft pointed; stipules 1–4 mm, bristle- or leaf-like, deciduous or not.
Flower: sepals 4–5, leaf-like, entire to irregularly, deeply pinnately lobed, persistent, linear or lobes linear, acute to abruptly soft pointed; petals 4–5, white to yellow; stamens 12–15, filaments linear, bases dilated; ovary spheric, chambers (2)3(4), each many-ovuled.
Fruit: capsule ± spheric, leathery, irregularly loculicidal; chambers (2)3(4); style persisting as beak > fruit body.
Seed: many per chamber, triangular, dark, curved.
3 species: deserts, North America, n Africa, Spain; to China; Mongolia. (Name used by Theophrastus for "rues")

To 3 dm high.
Stem: prostrate to ascending, to 9 dm, rooting, hairy to glabrous.
Leaf: ± hairy to glabrous.
Flower: petals < 17 mm, 1/2 as wide, ± 1/2 pedicel, generally < sepals, oblong- elliptic, white to yellow; disk cup-shaped.
Fruit: to 15 mm diam, < pedicel, << sepals.
Roadsides, abandoned fields, degraded rangeland; 60–730 m. Mojave Desert (nw San Bernardino, se Kern cos.);

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Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) [year] Jepson eFlora, http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/IJM.html [accessed on month, day, year]
Citation for an individual treatment: [Author of taxon treatment] [year]. [Taxon name] in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [URL for treatment]. Accessed on [month, day, year].

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Bioregions in which taxon occurs	Red area (if present) is the part of the bioregion lying between the upper and lower elevation limits of the taxon; markers link to CCH specimen records. If the markers are obscured, reload the page [or change window size and reload]. Yellow markers indicate records that may have georeferencing or identification issues.
Chart based on elevation range in Manual and elevations and coordinates of CCH records. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. Note: About half of the CCH records include both elevation and coordinates.	Map made in collaboration with Scott Loarie. Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. View all CCH records   CCH collections by month Duplicates counted once; synonyms included. Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa. Blue line denotes Manual flowering time.