Shrubs, armed. Stems erect to semiprostrate, branchlets thorn-tipped, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves alternate, unifoliolate or odd-pinnate; stipules absent or present; subsessile; leaflets 1 or 3, subsessile, stipels absent, blade margins entire, surfaces glabrous or pubescent. Inflorescences 1–7-flowered, terminal or subterminal, racemes or flowers solitary; bracts present, bracts and bracteoles acicular. Flowers papilionaceous; calyx campanulate, lobes 5; corolla usually reddish purple, rarely whitish; stamens 10, distinct; anthers dorsifixed. Fruits legumes, stipitate, compressed, linear, dehiscent, pubescent, valves 2. Seeds 1–10, reniform; hilum minute, lateral or subapical. x = 14.

Distribution

California, nw Mexico.

Discussion

Species 1.

The relationships of Pickeringia to other genera are unclear; fruiting specimens are rare. Apparently, reproduction is chiefly by fire-resistant underground stems.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Pickeringia montana