Kallstroemia californica Vail

California caltrop (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Zygophyllales > Zygophyllaceae > Kallstroemia

Characteristics

Herbs, annual. Stems prostrate to decumbent, to 0.7 m, hirsute and strigose with white antrorse hairs, becoming glabrate. Leaves usually elliptic in outline, sometimes obovate, 1.5–6 × 1–3 cm; stipules 1.5–5 × 1 mm; leaflets 6–12(–14), elliptic to oblong, 4–17 × 1.5–9 mm, middle pairs usually largest, terminal pairs sometimes largest, surfaces appressed-hirsute, veins and margins sericeous, becoming glabrate. Pedicels to 15 mm in flower, 8–33 mm in fruit, shorter than subtending leaves, thickened distally, bent sharply at base and straight distally. Flowers 8–10 mm diam.; sepals usually deciduous, if persistent spreading from base of schizocarp, lanceolate, 2–4 × 1–1.5 mm, 2/3 as long as petals, in flower longer than style, in fruit not reaching tops of mature fruit body, margins becoming involute, strigose or hirsutulous and strigillose; petals marcescent, 1-colored, yellow, drying white or orange, obovate, 3–6 × 2.5–3 mm; stamens as long as style; anthers yellow, ovoid, to 1 mm; ovary ovoid, 1 mm diam., hairy; style conic, to 1 mm, shorter than ovary, strigillose; stigma terminal. Schizocarps ovoid, to 4 × 3–5 mm (including tubercles), strigillose; beak cylindric, 2–4 mm, shorter than fruit body, base conic, glabrous or base sparingly strigillose; mericarps 3 × 1 mm, abaxially tuberculate, 4–5 tubercles blunt oblong, 1–1.5 mm (tubercles becoming more prominent as fruits mature), other tubercles rounded, much less than 1 mm, sides pitted or smooth, adaxial edge angled.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) -
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 6-11

Usage

Uses medicinal
Edible -
Therapeutic use Dermatological Aid (leaf), Antidiarrheal (root)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) 14 - 21
Germination temperacture (C°) 15 - 18
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Kallstroemia californica world distribution map, present in Mexico and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:133185-2
WFO ID wfo-0001146320
COL ID 3QZ9L
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Kallstroemia californica Kallstroemia brachystylis Tribulus californicus Tribulus brachystylis Kallstroemia californica var. californica Kallstroemia californica var. brachystylis