Dalea formosa is a semi-evergreen[1] species of flowering plant in the genus Dalea, known by the common names feather dalea and featherplume;[3] it is named for the physician Samuel Dale.[4] The plant is native to the southern United States.[4] It is highly tolerant of heat, cold, and drought.[5][6] It is favored by honeybees; but of much less use to most wildlife, with the exception of rabbits and deer.[7][8] Unique to most plants,[Note 1] it blooms all year long (with the occurrence of monsoon rainfall)[9][10] and also has a long lifespan.[6]
| Dalea formosa | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Dalea |
| Species: | D. formosa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Dalea formosa | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
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References
edit- ^ NatureServe (2024). "Dalea formosa". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ^ "Dalea formosa Torr". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ^ Southwest, The American. "Western USA wildflowers: Feather Peabush, Dalea Formosa". www.americansouthwest.net.
- ^ a b "SEINet Portal Network - Dalea formosa". swbiodiversity.org.
- ^ "Dalea formosa". Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin.
- ^ a b "USDA Plants Database". plants.usda.gov.
- ^ "Plants of Texas Rangelands » Feather Dalea". rangeplants.tamu.edu.
- ^ Xerces Society. Native plants for pollinators and beneficial insects: Southwest - Sonoran Desert Retrieved July 27, 2023
- ^ "Blue Wildflowers - Big Bend National Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
- ^ "Dalea formosa, Indigobush, Southwest Desert Flora".
Explanatory notes
edit- ^ Generally, plants expend considerable energy to bloom and that decreases their lifespan or the duration of their bloom, or both; especially in hot regions. Blooming flowers expend considerable energy through nectar production, water loss via transpiration, and respiration of flower parts (Schoen & Ashman, 1994). “Interestingly, flower lifespan is negatively correlated with temperature; the hotter the environment where they bloom, the shorter the period a plant retains them. The phenomenon has been known for a long time,” comments Shoko Sakai, author of the present study.