Lemon scurf-pea

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Lemon scurf-pea habit

Lemon scurf-pea habit

Lemon scurf-pea leaf

Lemon scurf-pea

Lemon scurf-pea inflorescence

Lemon scurf-pea

Lemon scurf-pea flowers

Lemon scurf-pea fruit

Morphology

Stem

Ascending to erect, much-branched from base, sparsely strigose, moderately to densely glandular-punctate, especially distally.

Leaves

Alternate, palmately compound; stipules lanceolate to linear, .12 to .4 inch; petiole .4 to .8 inch; leaflets 3, leaflets oblanceolate to narrowly oblong or linear, .6 to 1.8 inch long, .02 to .3 inch, base tapered, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, sometimes mucronate, surfaces sparsely strigose or glabrate, densely glandular-pubescent.

Inflorescence

Racemes, axillary, dense to somewhat loose, .4 to 1.2 inch long, .4 to .6 inch wide; peduncles .8 to 2 inches; bracts early deciduous and usually absent.

Flower

Papilionaceous; pedicels less than .12 inch; calyx .08 to .1 inch; corolla white, usually wings and keel blue or purple distally, .2 to .28 inch; banner round, wings oblong to oblanceolate, longer than keel petals; keel oblong to oblanceolate, slightly curved upward distally, apex rounded; stamens 10, diadelphous; style glabrous.

Fruit

Legumes, round, .16 to .24 inch, not flattened in cross section, longer than persistent calyx, glabrous, smooth but densely glandular-punctate; stipe absent; seed 1, tan to reddish brown, round, .16 to .2 inch, not flattened, smooth.

Ecology

Habitat

Sand and sandsage prairies, sand dunes, sandy mixed-sandy flood plains

Distribution

Principally west half of Kansas

Practical Information

Uses

Native Americans rubbed the oily leaves on skin for dryness, chewed fresh leaves for sore throats and roots for hoarseness, and took a cold infusion of the plant to treat stomachaches.

Additional Notes

Synonyms

Alternative scientific names that have been used for this plant.