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 Leaves Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plant Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Fruit Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Biennial or annual
General Desc:
Herbage covered with short stiff hairs along the stem; several or many flower clusters; pods long and enlarged. When dry, the seeds in the pod break loose and rattle, giving it the name rattleweed.
Identification notes: Ascending to trailing annual or biennial; leaves are compound with narrow leaflets (1/8 inch wide) that are hairy on the underside; flowers are bright to light purple, <1/2 inch long; fruits are 1-celled greatly inflated pods.
Height:
3 to 12 inches
Habitat Description: Found on grasslands, chaparral, woodlands and riparian areas.
Plant Communities:
Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Riparian
Elevation: 3000 - 7100 feet
Color:
Bright to light purple
Shape:
Other in elongated clusters
Tubular:
Y
Flowering Period:
Mar - Jul
Description:
Flowers less than 3/8 inch long; keel (two lower) petals arched; flower clusters of 5 to 10 flowers; sepals 2/3 as long or longer than the flower petals.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Compound
Leaf Shape:
Narrow
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Leaves 1-1/2 to 4 inches long with 11 to 23 narrow to oblong leaflets, 1/5 to 1 inch long.
Fruit Color: Reddish-brown
Fruit Type: Pod
Fruit Notes: Greatly inflated pods, thin-walled, 3/5 to 1 inch long, broadly ovate and very asymmetric, much more strongly curved on the lower (dorsal) side than on the upper (ventral) side.
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