Capetown Pea

Psoralea fruticans (L.) Rydberg
Tn 'folium fruticans L. Sp. PI. 770. 1753.
Psoralea bracteata L. Mant. 264. 1771.
Psoralea fruticosa Kellogg. Proc. Calif. Acad. 7: 91. 1877.
Lolodes fruticans Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 194. 1891.
A low shrub, erect or decumbent, densely leafy; twigs subcanescent ; leaves digitately 3-foliolate; stipules 1 cm. long, lanceolate, acuminate, striate; petioles very short; leaflets broadly obovate, retrorsely spinulose-mucronate, 1-2.5 cm. long, conspicuously punctate, pubescent or in age glabrate; spikes terminal, sessile, densely-flowered, subcapitate; bracts membranous, lanceolate or ovate, acuminate, nearly as long as the flowers; calyx densely pubescent and glandular; tube 3 mm. long; lobes lanceolate, acute, 4 mm. long, the lowest slightly longer than the rest; corolla purple-blue, or whitish, or the banner purple and wings
* Also spelled Psoralia. whitish; banner broadly obovate, retuse, with rounded basal lobes; blades of the wings oblong
tentVfiT t Si u u C ; ^° Se u thE keel " PetalS br ° adly 1Unate ' With a rounded basal lobe; tenth filament free half its length; pod glabrous, ovate-oblong, wrinkled.
Type locality: Cape of Good Hope
T? I I S ™ BU " ON: Adventive on Mt. Tamalpais. California; native of South Africa

Perennial, Shrubs, Woody throughout, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems or branches arching, spreading or decumbent, Stems 1-2 m tall, Stems greater than 2 m tall, Plants gland-dotted or with gland-tipped hairs, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs spars ely to densely hairy, Stem hairs hispid to villous, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules green, triangulate to lanceolate or foliaceous, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves palmately 2-3 foliate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets alternate or subopposite, Leaflets 3, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals white, Petals blue, lavander to purple, or violet, Petals bicolored or with red, purple or yellow streaks or spots, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Banner petal auriculate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing petals auriculate, Keel petals auriculate, spurred, or gibbous, Stamens 9-10, Stamens monadelphous, united below, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit indehiscent, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit orbicular to subglobose, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit inflated or turgid, Fruit beaked, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 1-seeded, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.