# Pickeringia

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***Pickeringia*** is a [monotypic genus](/source/Monotypic_taxon)[1][2] of flowering plants in the [legume](/source/Legume) family, [Fabaceae](/source/Fabaceae). It was recently assigned to the unranked, [monophyletic](/source/Monophyly) [*Cladrastis* clade](/source/Cladrastis_clade).[3][4][5] It was named after the naturalist [Charles Pickering](/source/Charles_Pickering_(naturalist)). Its only species is ***Pickeringia montana***, which is known by the common name **chaparral pea**. It is native to [California](/source/California), where its distribution extends along the [Coast Ranges](/source/California_Coast_Ranges) and the [Sierra Nevada foothills](/source/Sierra_Nevada_(U.S.)), as well as the [Peninsular Ranges](/source/Peninsular_Ranges) of Southern California and northern [Baja California](/source/Baja_California). It is also known from [Santa Cruz Island](/source/Santa_Cruz_Island).[6][7]

It is one of very few legumes native to the [chaparral](/source/Chaparral) habitat. Its [nitrogen-fixing](/source/Nitrogen_fixation) ability helps it thrive in rocky, sandy soil. The plant is also well-suited to a landscape of hills, slopes, and recently burned areas; its roots spread quickly and help anchor loose soil, preventing [erosion](/source/Erosion).

## Description

The chaparral pea rarely sprouts from seed. More often it sends up new stems from roots growing outward from the mother plant. It forms low, dense, thorny thickets of shiny dark green leaves. In spring and summer the plant blooms in bright [magenta](/source/Magenta) flowers. It bears pods containing pealike seeds.

There are two subspecies of chaparral pea:

- *Pickeringia montana* subsp. *montana* is widespread in California.
- *Pickeringia montana* subsp. *tomentosa*, sometimes called **woolly chaparral pea**, is limited to the hills of southern California.

## References

1. ["ILDIS LegumeWeb entry for *Pickeringia*"](http://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb?version~10.01&genus~Pickeringia&species~). *International Legume Database & Information Service*. Cardiff School of Computer Science & Informatics. Retrieved 12 February 2014.

1. USDA; ARS; National Genetic Resources Program. ["GRIN species records of *Pickeringia*"](http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?9368). *[Germplasm Resources Information Network](/source/Germplasm_Resources_Information_Network)—(GRIN) [Online Database]*. [National Germplasm Resources Laboratory](/source/Henry_A._Wallace_Beltsville_Agricultural_Research_Center), Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved 12 February 2014.

1. Cardoso D, Pennington RT, de Queiroz LP, Boatwright JS, Van Wyk BE, Wojciechowski MF, Lavin M (2013). "Reconstructing the deep-branching relationships of the papilionoid legumes". *[S Afr J Bot](/source/South_African_Journal_of_Botany)*. **89**: 58–75. [doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2013.05.001](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2013.05.001). [hdl:10566/3193](https://hdl.handle.net/10566/3193)

1. Cardoso D, de Queiroz LP, Pennington RT, de Lima HC, Fonty É, Wojciechowski MF, Lavin M (2012). "Revisiting the phylogeny of papilionoid legumes: new insights from comprehensively sampled early-branching lineages". *[Am J Bot](/source/American_Journal_of_Botany)*. **99** (12): 1991–2013. [doi:10.3732/ajb.1200380](https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1200380). [PMID 23221500](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23221500)

1. Wojciechowski MF (2013). "The origin and phylogenetic relationships of the Californian chaparral 'paleoendemic' *Pickeringia* (Leguminosae)". *[Syst Bot](/source/Systematic_Botany)*. **38** (1): 132–142. [doi:10.1600/036364413X662024](https://doi.org/10.1600/036364413X662024). [S2CID 86331839](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:86331839)

1. **Howard JL.** 1992. [*Pickeringia montana*.](http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/picmon/all.html) In: Fire Effects Information System. USDA FS. Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.

1. [*Pickeringia montana*](https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=38189). *Jepson eFlora*, The Jepson Herbarium. Retrieved 14 September 2023.

## External links

- [USDA Plants Profile; *Pickeringia montana*](https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PIMO5)
- [Jepson Manual Treatment - *Pickeringia montana*](http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?3691,4173,4174)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pickeringia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickeringia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickeringia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.