There are several kinds of Thermopsis, of North America and Asia;
stout, perennial herbs, with woody rootstocks; leaflets three;
stipules conspicuous, leaf-like; flowers large, yellow, with short,
bracted flower-stalks; calyx bell-shaped, five-cleft; standard broad,
in the western species, shorter than the oblong wings, keel nearly
straight, blunt, the same length as the wings; stamens ten, separate,
curving in; style slightly curving in, stigma small; pod flat, long
or oblong, straight or curved, with a very short stalk and several
seeds. Thermopsis, sometimes called False Lupine, is distinguished from
Lupinus by its stamens, which are separate, instead of united into a
sheath. The Greek name means "lupine-like."
[Sidenote: =Golden Pea Buck-bean=
_Thermópsis montànà_
=Yellow
Spring, summer
Northwest, Utah, Ariz.=]
A very handsome, thrifty-looking plant, about two feet high, the
smooth, bright green foliage contrasting finely with the clusters of
clear yellow flowers, each about three-quarters of an inch long. The
erect, straight pods, two or three inches long, are silky and also the
calyxes and buds. This thrives in the mountains, up to an altitude of
nine thousand feet, in somewhat moist spots, and its fresh coloring
is most attractive. The foliage seems to me to be especially handsome
in northern Arizona, but these plants are also beautiful in the Utah
canyons. The flowers are scentless and last a long time in water. _T.
Califórnica_ has silvery, silky foliage and is common in California, in
damp ground in the hills.
There are many kinds of Parosela, of western North America, Mexico,
and the Andes, no one sort common; generally shrubs; leaves almost
always compound; leaflets odd in number, small, toothless, with minute
stipules, often with glandular dots; flowers small, in terminal
clusters; calyx with nearly equal, long, occasionally feathery teeth;
corolla with wings and keel longer than the standard, their claws
adhering to the lower part of the stamen-tube, but the claw of the
small, heart-shaped standard free; stamens nine or ten, filaments
united, anthers alike; ovary with a short stalk, or none, style
awl-shaped; pod small, membranous, included in the calyx, usually with
one seed. _P. spinòsa_, the Smoke Tree, or Ghost Tree, of western
Arizona, is almost leafless, with grayish or whitish branches.
[Illustration: Golden Pea--Thermopsis montana.]
[Sidenote: _Parosèla Califórnica (Dalea)_
=Blue
Spring
California=]
This little spiny desert shrub grows two or three feet high and is
conspicuous on account of the odd contrast in color between its
foliage and flowers. The woody stems and branches are very pale in
color and the very small leaflets, so narrow and stiff that they look
like evergreen needles, are covered with pale down and have glandular
dots. All over this colorless foliage are sprinkled small spikes of
indigo-blue flowers, so dark in color that the effect, against a
background of desert sand, is of pale gray, speckled with black. It has
a pleasant smell like balsam.
[Sidenote: _Parosèla Émoryi (Dalea)_
=Magenta
Spring, summer
Southwest=]
A low, desert shrub, with slender, abruptly branching stems and
small, soft, thickish leaves, usually with three leaflets, obscurely
toothed, the stems and leaves all thickly covered with white down. The
flower-clusters are about three-quarters of an inch across, like a
small clover-head, the woolly calyxes giving a yellowish-gray effect
to the whole cluster, which is ornamented with a circle of tiny purple
flowers. The effect of these specks of dark color on the pale bush is
odd; the plant smells like balsam and grows in sandy soil.
[Sidenote: =Chaparral Pea=
_Xylothérmia montàna (Pickeringia)_
=Crimson
Spring, summer
California=]
This is the only kind, an evergreen shrub, flourishing on dry hills
in the Coast Ranges, with tough, crooked branches and stout spines,
forming chaparral so dense that it is impossible to penetrate. It grows
from three to eight feet high, the gnarled, knotty, black branches
terminating in long spines, which are often clothed with small leaves
nearly to the end, the leaves with one to three, small leaflets and
without stipules. The bush is often covered with quantities of pretty,
bright, deep purplish-pink flowers, three-quarters of an inch long,
forming a fine mass of color. The calyx has four, short, broad teeth;
the petals are equal, the standard roundish, with the sides turned back
and a paler spot at base, the wings oblong, the keel straight; the
filaments of the ten stamens not united; the pod is two inches long,
flat, straight, sickle-shaped when young. This very rarely produces
fruit. Stevenson was probably describing this shrub when he wrote,
"Even the low thorny chaparral was thick with pea-like blossoms."
[Illustration: Parosela Californica.
Chaparral Pea--Xylothermia montana.