Difference between revisions of "Desmanthus brevipes"
Field & Lab. 18: 60. 1950.
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Latest revision as of 18:52, 12 March 2025
Herbs, prostrate to decumbent, much-branched from base, to 4 dm. Stems glabrous or sparsely pubescent with short, white hairs along ribs, glabrescent. Leaves 2.3–7.5 cm; stipules persistent, 1.4–2.5 mm, with membranous auricles opposite petiole, glabrous; petiole 3–7 mm; pinnae 1 or 2 pairs; nectary sessile, crateriform, between proximal pair of pinnae; leaflets 38–52, blades 2.7–6.5 mm, venation obscure except for eccentric midvein, surfaces glabrous. Peduncles 0–0.5 cm, 0.4–0.9 cm in fruit. Heads 1 per axil, 7–9-flowered; sterile flowers 1 or 2 per head; staminate and bisexual flowers 5–8 per head. Flowers: stamens 10; staminodia 1.5–2 mm; style not exserted beyond stamens. Legumes reddish brown to nearly black, ± falcate, linear, not constricted between seeds, dehiscent along both sutures, 3.5–5 cm × 3–3.5 mm, apex acute. 2n = 28.
Phenology: Flowering and fruiting Jun–Oct.
Habitat: Beaches, bayfronts, grasslands, roadsides.
Elevation: 0–150 m.
Distribution
La., Tex.
Discussion
Desmanthus brevipes is a segregate from the D. virgatus complex. The species was considered to be a variety of D. tatuhyensis by M. A. Luckow (1993), but subsequent study of the latter species in Argentina indicates that D. brevipes is distinct from its South American cousin. Desmanthus brevipes is easily distinguished by its sessile or very short flowering and fruiting peduncles.
Selected References
None.