Psorothamnus polydenius

Dotted dalea

Family: Fabaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Dotted dalea is a California native shrub found in the southeastern deserts, Mojave Desert, and Imperial County in desert flats, hills, and washes at elevations of 900 to 2,250 meters. Flowering from May to September, this plant produces pink-purple flowers in dense spike-like clusters with gland-tipped wing petals. Growing as a spreading shrub less than 1.5 meters tall, it develops thorny branches with fine reflexed hairs and dense orange glands. Its leaves feature 7 to 13 small leaflets, each 1 to 4.5 millimeters long, characteristically obovate to nearly round with notched tips. In maturity, the shrub forms a compact, intricate shape with branches that become increasingly thorny with age.

Habitat: Locally abundant. Desert flats, hills, washes

Bloom period: May-Sep

Elevation: 900-2250 m

Bioregions: SNE, DMoj, DSon (Imperial Co.)

California counties: Inyo, San Bernardino, Mono, Imperial, Riverside

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.