Sonoran Desert Naturalist >>> Field Guide >>> Sonoran Desert Flora >>> Fabaceae-Mimosoideae >>> Lysiloma watsonii

Feather Bush
Desert Fern

Lysiloma watsonii
(L. microphylla)

 
Pen & Ink by Michael Plagens

Drawn from specimen growing at Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Maricopa Co., AZ.

LEAVES: Large compound leaves are dissected into many very small leaflets giving the whole plant a feathery or fern-like appearance.

RANGE: In Sonoran Desert of Arizona this plant was originally restricted to foothill areas east of Tucson. But it has now been widely cultivated and is a very common landscape tree in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona.

SHRUB/small TREE: Rarely exceed 5 meters in height. Often with multiple trunks from base.

FLOWERS: Spherical inflorescence of numerous flowers with long whitish stamens appearing as a fluff ball 15 mm dia.

FRUIT: Flattened bean pods with numerous seeds.

UNARMED

Fabaceae -- Bean Family

Mimosoideae -- Mimosa Subfamily

Sponsored Links:

More Information:


Sonoran Desert Field Guide
Sonoran Desert Places
Sonoran Desert Naturalist Home Page


  Google

Copyright Michael J. Plagens, 1999-2009