Kingdom Plantae Family Zygophyllaceae Scientific name Kallstroemia californica Rank Species | Order Zygophyllales Genus Kallstroemia Higher classification Kallstroemia | |
Similar Kallstroemia, Zygophyllaceae, Kallstroemia grandiflora, Baileya pleniradiata, Cryptantha angustifolia | ||
Kallstroemia californica is a species of flowering plant in the caltrop family known by the common name California caltrop. It is native to the deserts of the Southwestern United States, California, and northern Mexico.
Description
Kallstroemia californica is a mat-forming annual herb which grows in thick carpetlike masses on sandy substrates. The branching stem has compound leaves which are each made up of several widely spaced pairs of small oval-shaped green leaflets.
It produces individual flowers with five rounded or oval petals and a ring of ten stamens. The fruit is a small body a few millimeters wide of ten conjoined nutlets which split apart.
References
Kallstroemia californica Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA