Acmispon rigidus

Acmispon rigidus, synonyms Lotus rigidus and Ottleya rigida, is a flowering plant in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.^[1] It is known as shrubby deervetch^[2] or desert rock-pea. It is found in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert.^[3][4]

Acmispon rigidus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Genus:	Acmispon
Species:	A. rigidus
Binomial name
Acmispon rigidus (Benth.) Brouillet (2008)
Synonyms[1]
Anisolotus argensis (Coult.) A.Heller (1913) Anisolotus rigidus (Benth.) Rydb. (1906) Hosackia puberula A.Gray (1853), nom. illeg. Hosackia rigida Benth. (1849) Lotus argensis Coult. (1893) Lotus rigidus (Benth.) Greene (1890) Ottleya rigida (Benth.) D.D.Sokoloff (1999)

Description

It is a perennial herbaceous plant growing to 0.5–1.5 m tall. The leaves are irregularly pinnate or palmate with three or five leaflets, 5–17 mm long. The flowers are yellow to cream, turning red or purple as they age.^[5]

Distribution and habitat

Acmispon rigidus is found in the southwestern United States (Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah) and in northwestern Mexico.^[1] It occurs in the Mojave Desert north to Inyo County, California, and in the Sonoran Desert south to the Baja California Peninsula.^[3] It is found on dry slopes and desert dry washes below 6,000 ft above sea level, in Joshua tree woodland, and in pinyon-juniper woodland plant communities.^[3]