Biology:Fagonia laevis
| Fagonia laevis | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Zygophyllales |
| Family: | Zygophyllaceae |
| Genus: | Fagonia |
| Species: | F. laevis
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| Binomial name | |
| Fagonia laevis Standl.
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| Synonyms | |
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Fagonia californica | |
Fagonia laevis, the California fagonbush, is a species of plant in the Zygophyllaceae, the caltrop family. It is a perennial subshrub of the southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico desert regions in California , southern Nevada, Arizona, southwest Utah, Sonora, Baja California and Baja California Sur. It thrives upon hot, dry, slopes and hillsides that also receive seasonal-(winters of the Southwest) or monsoon moisture.
Description
The California fagonbush is a spreading ground-hugging plant. As a cousin to the creosote bush, it has similar waxy leaves being an adaptation to desert temperatures. Leaves are dark green, to 1/2 in long, narrow and composed of three leaflets. This subshrub is found in the "Creosote Bush scrub community" of plants-(southern Mojave Desert, northwestern and western Sonoran Desert, and 'Baja Peninsula deserts').
The plant is open, and runnery, forms mounds up to 18 inches (5 dm) tall. It is a ground cover upon rocks and hillsides, and can hide the actual surface beneath it.
The flowers are star-shaped, 5-petal, and solitary, some plants showing more than others. They are purple-lavender in color, with white near the center. The plant has opposite leaves, trifoliate with spinescent stipules, a pink corolla and smooth fruits.
References
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fagonia laevis. |
Wikidata ☰ Q927676 entry
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