TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©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.

PICKERINGIA

Duane Isely

Species in genus: 1 sp
Etymology: (C. Pickering, Am naturalist, 1805–1875)

Native

P. montana Nutt.

Shrub, rhizomed, leafy or with flowers; thorns terminal or axillary
Stem intricately branched, 1–3 m
Leaf palmate or sometimes simple, evergreen; stipules 0; leaflets 1–3, 1–2 cm, elliptic or ovate; petiole ± 0
Inflorescence: raceme, terminal or axillary
Flower: calyx 5–7 mm, barely lobed; corolla 1.5–1.8 cm, generally purple, keel petals free; stamens 10, free
Fruit dehiscent, 3–6 cm, 4–5 mm wide, oblong; margins narrowed between seeds, often wavy
Seeds 1–8
Chromosomes: 2n=28
Ecology: Chaparral, open woodlands, washes
Elevation: generally < 1700 m.
Bioregional distribution: North Coast Ranges, n Sierra Nevada Foothills, San Francisco Bay Area, South Coast Ranges, n Channel Islands, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges
Distribution outside California: Baja California
Varieties intergrade but are geog separate.

Native

var. tomentosa (Abrams) I.M. Johnst.

Fruit abundant
Ecology: Chaparral, washes
Elevation: < 1700 m.
Bioregional distribution: San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges
Distribution outside California: Baja California
Horticultural information: TRY.