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	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

FABACEAE

LEGUME FAMILY

Annual to tree
Leaves generally compound, alternate, stipuled; leaflets generally entire
Inflorescence: generally raceme, spike, umbel or head; flowers sometime 1–2 in axils
Flowers generally bisexual, generally bilateral; hypanthium generally flat or cup-like; sepals generally 5, fused; petals generally 5, free, or the 2 lower ± fused; stamens 1–many, often 10 with 9 filaments at least partly fused, 1 (uppermost) free; pistil 1, ovary superior, generally 1-chambered, ovules 1–many, style, stigma 1
Fruit: legume, sometimes including a stalk-like base above receptacle, dehiscent, or indehiscent and breaking into 1-seeded segments, or indehiscent, 1-seeded, and achene-like
Seeds 1–several, often ± reniform, generally hard, smooth
Genera in family: ± 650 genera, 18,000 species: worldwide; with grasses, requisite in agriculture and most natural ecosystems. Many cultivated, most importantly Arachis , peanut; Glycine , soybean; Phaseolus , beans; Medicago ; Trifolium ; and many orns. [Polhill & Raven (eds) 1981 Advances in legume systematics; Allen & Allen 1981 Leguminosae] Family description and key to genera by Duane Isely.

PEDIOMELUM

INDIAN BREADROOT

James W. Grimes

Perennial, unarmed, gland-dotted; hairs, stalked glands, or both; roots deep, woody, enlarged near ground surface
Stem: main axis erect, nearly 0 to short; branches short, decumbent to ascending, sometimes underground
Leaves ± palmately compound, ± basal (or cauline at branch tips); stipules at base of plant fused, those above free; leaflets 5–7
Inflorescence: basal, axillary, or terminal on branches, raceme with 1 sometimes tardily deciduous bract and 2–3 flowers per node; pedicel sometimes very short
Flower: calyx base swollen on top, tube enlarging in fruit; corolla at least partly blue to purple; 9 filaments fused, 1 less so or free; ovary ± hairy, ovule 1, style tip curved to bent, stigma head-like
Fruit transversely dehiscent, beaked, hairy, rarely glandular
Seed elliptic, smooth or ridged
Species in genus: 22 species: North America
Etymology: (Greek: plain apple)
Reference: [Grimes 1990 Mem New York Bot Gard 61:1–114]
Bituminaria bituminosa (L.) Stirton (Psoralea b. L.) possibly naturalized in SnBr; Pediomelum mephiticum (S. Watson) Rydb. incorrectly reported for s CA.

Native

P. castoreum (S. Watson) Rydb.

Leaf: stipule 5–13.5 mm; petiole 6.8–15 cm; leaflets 5–6, 25–42 mm, elliptic to oblanceolate
Inflorescence: bract 3.5–8 mm
Flower 9–13 mm; calyx 10–12 mm; banner 9–13 mm
Fruit ovate to elliptic in outline; body 6–8 mm; beak 8–11 mm, straight to curved, triangular
Seed 6 mm, reniform, ridged, gray
Ecology: Open areas, roadcuts
Elevation: < 1750 m.
Bioregional distribution: Mojave Desert (San Bernardino Co.)
Distribution outside California: Nevada, Arizona
Flowering time: Apr–May
Synonyms: Psoralea c. S. Watson
Horticultural information: TRY.