Fagonia laevis

Taxobox
name = "Fagonia laevis"

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image_width = 230px
image_caption =
status = LC
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Zygophyllales
familia = Zygophyllaceae
genus = "Fagonia"
species = "F. laevis"
binomial = "Fagonia laevis"
binomial_authority = Standl.
synonyms = "Fagonia californica"

"Fagonia laevis" (California Fagonbush) is a species of plant in the Zygophyllaceae, the Caltrop family, specifically the "fagonbushes". It is a perennial subshrub of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico desert regions in California, Nevada, Arizona, 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.

Overview

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, southwestern Sonoran Desert, and 'Baja Peninsula deserts').

The plant is open, and runnery, forms mounds up to convert|18|in|dm|0 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, with white near the center. The plant has opposite leaves, trifoliate with spinescent stipules, a pink corolla and smooth fruits.

References

* [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=FALA USDA, NRCS: Natural Resources Conservation Service—Plants Profile: "Fagonia laevis"]
* [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?7869,7870,7871 Jepson Manual Treatment]
* [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Fagonia+laevis "Fagonia laevis" photo gallery] - CalPhotos

External links

* [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=0091+3182+0753+0029 Photo of dense plant with profuse flowers - CalPhotos]
* [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&enlarge=0000+0000+0303+0263 Photo--(Close-up--(High Res)): one Flower, Leaves] ; [http://botany.cs.tamu.edu/FLORA/perdeck/fago_cret_1.jpgSimilar picture, different size]
* [http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Fagonia+laevis "Fagonia laevis" entry at CalFlora=Taxon Report 3566]