NATIVEHabit: Subshrub, shrub, stiff-branched, +- open, < 10 dm, occasionally mat-like.
Stem: twig hairs dense, white, appressed to irregularly ascending.
Leaf: 3--25 mm, linear to obovate, hairs incurved or appressed.
Inflorescence: thorn-tipped; flowers 1--7; pedicel 2.5--9 mm, glabrous.
Flower: 2.5--5.2 mm; outer sepals glabrous or ciliate, occasionally sparsely hairy near tip, wings cream or +- green; keel petal beak 0 or minute.
Fruit: 3.5--5.8 mm including stalk.
Seed: 2.8--4.2 mm, including hairs; sparsely pubescent to glabrous; aril glabrous.
Chromosomes: 2n=18.
Ecology: Pinyon/juniper woodland;
Elevation: 2600--3080 m.
Bioregional Distribution: SNE (Mono Co.);
Distribution Outside California: to Utah, northern Arizona.
Flowering Time: May--Aug
Synonyms: Polygala intermontana T. Wendt
Unabridged Synonyms: Polygala acanthoclada A. Gray var. intricata Eastw.Jepson eFlora Author: Robert E. Preston & Thomas L. Wendt
Reference: Wendt 1979 J Arnold Arbor 60:504--514; Abbott 2011 JBRIT 5:125--137
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)Listed on CNPS Rare Plant Inventory
Previous taxon: Rhinotropis heterorhynchaNext taxon: Rhinotropis subspinosa