Herbs annual, cespitose, pros­trate, green, 1–8 dm, not fleshy, glabrous or ± villosulous; tap­­rooted. Stems 1–10+, procumbent to ascending, unbranched, herbaceous, leafy. Leaves irregularly pinnate or palmate; stipules glandlike or absent; short-petiolate to subsessile; rachis 4–8 mm, sometimes flattened; leaflets 4–6, often 2 on one side and 2 terminal, blades obovate to elliptic, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces ± villous. Peduncles ascending, 1–2(–5) mm, shorter than leaves; bract absent. Inflores­cences 2–5-flowered. Flowers 3–4(–5) mm; calyx 1–1.5(–2.5) mm, tube strigillose to villosulous, lobes sub­ulate; corolla yellowish, claws shorter than calyx tube, banner implicate-ascending, wings shorter than keel; style abruptly incurved 90°, strigillose. Legumes per­sistent, strongly exserted, widely spreading or reflexed, tawny, arched, turgid, constricted, not septate, linear, 10–15 × 1–2 mm, leathery, apex tapering, long hook-beaked, indehiscent, veined, margins keeled, smooth, strigillose (also on beak). Seeds 2, olive green, mottled, ± curved, cylindric, smooth. 2n = 14.

Phenology: Flowering (late winter–)spring(–early summer).
Habitat: Coastal scrub, mesas, desert canyons, washes, disturbed areas, dry, gravelly plains and hillsides, prairies, roadsides.
Elevation: 0–600 m.

Distribution

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Calif., Mexico (Baja California).

Discussion

Acmispon micranthus occurs in the southern South Coast Ranges, the South Coast, the Channel Islands, and the Peninsular Ranges.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.