Dalea (Psorothamnus) spinosus (Smoke Tree)

Photographs

My photos:

These photos are from the Anza Borrego Visitor's Center garden, in February.

More photos:

Virginia Tech photos

click photo to enlarge

Plant Information

Fabaceae

In the garden:

an intricately branched shrub or small tree, armed with spines, which is from 3 to 30 feet high. It is almost leafless; leaves are small and early deciduous. When leafless, it’s intricate network of gray, spiny branches resemble a cloud of smoke. Flowers appear in April through July, with a good show of fragrant, bright blue-purple blooms; flowering branches make an excellent dry arrangement. It is useful in a natural desert garden. It prefers to be located at the edge of an irrigated area. With summer water this tree will grow in rapid bursts. Easily grown from seed sown in warm weather: sow in place or in a small container and plant out. It is adapted to wash areas and the flashflood conditions found in these areas. Locally common in sandy washes, below 1500 feet.

In the wild:

Smoke tree is a small tree with purple, sweet- smelling pea flowers. This desert tree is named for its gray new growth which, from a distances, makes the tree look like a plume of smoke. Smoke tree photosynthesizes through its green stems and has leaves for only a short period.

Ethnobotany:

No information found.

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