Common name:
Rosary babybonnets
Family:
Scientific name:
Coursetia glandulosa
Main flower color:
Range:
Southwest and central Arizona
Height:
Between 5 and 20 feet
Habitat:
Desert regions; washes, rocky slopes, mountain foothills
Leaves:
Up to 2 inches long; pinnately divided into 8 to 18 leaflets
Season:
February to April
Coursetia glandulosa is a large, branched, spreading shrub, up to 20 feet tall, with slender, woody branches. Leaves are compound, divided into an even number of leaflets (there is no terminal leaflet), with adjacent leaflets touching or overlapping. Leaflets are pointed at the tip. Flowers are borne on short racemes from the leaf nodes, typically around six per cluster. Flowers stalks have a covering of short, glandular hairs, as do the calyces, which are colored dark red, and about half an inch long. The pointed calyx lobes are longer than the calyx tube.
Flowers have a range of colors; the banner petal is white to pink; lighter at the base and darker at the tip, while the wing petals are yellowish, most strongly on the upper, outer surfaces, and otherwise white, though also sometimes tinged with pink. The banner petal is angled upwards, and its sides are bent backwards. The fruit is a narrow, fairly straight pod up to 2 inches long, strongly constricted between each of the seeds.
Flowers have a range of colors; the banner petal is white to pink; lighter at the base and darker at the tip, while the wing petals are yellowish, most strongly on the upper, outer surfaces, and otherwise white, though also sometimes tinged with pink. The banner petal is angled upwards, and its sides are bent backwards. The fruit is a narrow, fairly straight pod up to 2 inches long, strongly constricted between each of the seeds.
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