Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Mountain Goldenbean
Thermopsis montana
Pea family (Fabaceae)

Mountain Goldenbean grows quickly after snow melt and by late spring large colonies are in bloom under the Aspens. This plant is sometimes called "False Lupine" because of its superficial resemblance to lupines. The name even recognizes this similarity: "thermos" is Greek for "Lupine" and "opsis" is Greek for "similar." The leaves of Mountain Goldenbean are trifoliately while lupine's leaves have 5-9 . Mountain Goldenbean is an attractive plant considered a weed by some due to its unpalatable foliage and its tendency to crowd out other plants. (Most plants are considered weeds by someone!) Thomas Nuttall, famed 19th century collector, taxonomist, and teacher, collected this species in Wyoming in 1834 on the Wyeth Expedition. See the similar Spreadfruit Goldenbanner Thermopsis divaricarpa.


©2010 Matt Lavin

Description

, to 3' tall, with numerous bright yellow flowers arranged in dense atop stems. Leaves are , , divided into 3 narrowly egg-shaped . Two large leaf-like present. are flattened pods narrowed between seeds and curved.

Field Marks

Showy yellow flower ; compound leaves.

© Al Schneider

genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant number of similar characteristics.

A leaf is compound when multiple leaflets are on the same stem.

A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.

A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

pinnate -- A compound leaf with two rows of leaflets.

stipule -- A leaf-like structure that occurs where the leaf joins the stem; stipules often occur in pairs.

A spike is an unbranched, indeterminate inflorescence in which the flowers are without stalks.

A raceme is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along its axis.

alternate -- leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

leaflets -- Each little leaf-like thing in a compound leaf is a leaflet.