Ottleya rigida facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ottleya rigida |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Genus: | Ottleya |
| Species: |
O. rigida
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| Binomial name | |
| Ottleya rigida (Benth.) D.D.Sokoloff
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| Synonyms | |
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The shrubby deervetch or desert rock-pea (scientific name: Ottleya rigida) is a cool flowering plant. It's part of the pea family, also known as Fabaceae. This plant is found naturally in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It grows in dry, sunny places like the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert.
About the Shrubby Deervetch
What it Looks Like
The shrubby deervetch is a perennial plant. This means it lives for more than two years. It's also an herbaceous plant, which means it has soft stems, not woody ones like a tree. It can grow to be about 0.5 to 1.5 meters tall. That's roughly the height of a small person!
Its leaves are interesting. They are either pinnate (like a feather) or palmate (like a hand). Each leaf has three or four smaller parts called leaflets. These leaflets are usually 5 to 15 millimeters long. The flowers of this plant are bright yellow when they first bloom. As they get older, they change color, turning red or purple.
Where it Grows
The Ottleya rigida plant is found in several states in the southwestern United States. These include Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. It also grows in northwestern Mexico. You can find it in the Mojave Desert, reaching north into Inyo County, California. It's also common in the Sonoran Desert, stretching south to the Baja California peninsula.
This plant loves dry places. It often grows on sunny slopes and in dry riverbeds, called desert dry washes. You can find it at elevations below 6,000 feet above sea level. It's a common sight in Joshua tree woodlands. It also grows in pinyon-juniper woodland areas.
