Participant Info

Species

Thermopsis rhombifolia [Thermopsis arenosa] [Thermopsis rhombifolia var. rhombifolia]

Family

Fabaceae

CommonName

prairie goldenbanner, prairie golden-pea

Presence

YES

Status

native

EarliestDate

1934

LatestDate

2021

Ecosystem

shrubland, foothill, montane, ruderal, urban

Geobotanical

Garitas, SSanjuans, NCristos

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Baca, Great Sand Dunes, Smith Reservoir

Other Localities

Del Norte

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Rio Grande Co, just N of Del Norte 28 April 2021

Comments

In the Watershed, Thermopsis rhombifolia is less common and usually of lower elevation than T. montana. Unlike T. montana it is typically found in open basin and foothill pinyon-juniper terrain, usually of a somewhat sandy substrate. The pod is strongly curved. "Don't fool yourself that you can identify correctly a [Thermopsis] without pods," say Allred et al. (2020, III, p. 459). Athough the species follows the Rio Grande drainage partway into New Mexico (as far as Santa Fe Co), that is the southernmost edge of its distribution in the USA, which is largely the Rockies and eastern Great Plains.

Annotation