Acmispon glaber facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Acmispon glaber |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Acmispon
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| Species: |
glaber
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| Synonyms | |
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Lotus scoparius (Nutt.) Ottley |
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Acmispon glaber is a cool plant with many names! People often call it common deerweed, deer weed, deervetch, California broom, or western bird's-foot trefoil. It's a type of plant that lives for many years, like a small bush, and belongs to the pea family (Fabaceae).
This plant is a "pioneer species." This means it's one of the first plants to grow in dry areas, like after a fire or in disturbed soil. You can find it in places like California, Arizona, and Mexico. It often grows in chaparral areas, sandy coasts, and along roadsides, usually below 1500 meters (about 4,900 feet) in elevation.
Contents
What Does Deerweed Look Like?
Deerweed plants have green stems that stand up straight and branch out a bit. Their leaves are small and fall off each year. They are "pinnate," which means they look a bit like a feather, with three to six tiny leaflets on each leaf.
Flowers and Fruit
Deerweed blooms from about March to August. Its flowers are small, usually 7 to 11 millimeters (less than half an inch) long. They are bright yellow and grow in clusters of two to seven flowers. These clusters appear where the leaves meet the stem. As the flowers get older, they often turn a reddish color.
After the flowers, the plant produces a curved fruit. This fruit is a type of "legume," similar to a pea pod. Each fruit usually holds two seeds inside.
Deerweed in Nature
Acmispon glaber is a very important plant for many animals. It provides food for hummingbirds, bees, and even deer! Many types of butterfly larvae (caterpillars) also love to eat deerweed.
Butterfly Friends
Some of the butterfly caterpillars that feed on deerweed include the Acmon blue, Afranius duskywing, Avalon scrub hairstreak, bramble hairstreak, funereal duskywing, and northern cloudywing.
Deerweed often grows near other plants like California sagebrush and toyon. These plants are common in the chaparral and coastal sage scrub areas.
Helping Butterflies
This plant is so important that if people want to help bring back the rare Palos Verdes blue butterfly, they need to make sure there's enough Acmispon glaber for the butterflies to live and lay their eggs on.
- Acmispon glaber var. brevialatus is a special type of deerweed that is only found in California. When a plant is only found in one specific area, it's called "endemic" to that place.
Images for kids
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Curved fruits of Acmispon glaber
