Stanleya pinnata is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known as desert prince's-plume. It is a perennial herb or shrub native to North America.
Distribution The plant is native to the western Great Plains and western North America.Flora of North America It occurs in many types of open habitat, including deserts, chaparral, foothills, rocky cliffs, sagebrush, and prairie. It prefers alkali- and gypsum-rich soils.Houk, Rose. (1987). Wildflowers of the American West. Chronicle Books, San Francisco. .
Description Stanleya pinnata is a perennial herb or shrub producing several erect stems reaching up to about in maximum height. The stems are unbranched, hairless, often waxy in texture, and have woody bases. The leaves have fleshy blades up to long by wide which are divided into several long, narrow lobes. The blades are borne on petioles.
The top of the stem is occupied by a long inflorescence which is a dense raceme of many flowers. Each flower has four narrow yellowish sepals which open to reveal four bright yellow petals each up to long. The stamens protruding from the flower's center may approach 3 cm in length.
The fruit is a curving, wormlike silique up to long.
Uses It has been used as a Native American traditional medicinal plant and food source, including by the Hopi, Zuni, Paiute, Navajo, Kawaiisu, and Tewa peoples.University of Michigan at Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany of Stanleya pinnata
Ecology It is a larval host to both Becker's white and checkered white caterpillars.The Xerces Society (2016), Gardening for Butterflies: How You Can Attract and Protect Beautiful, Beneficial Insects, Timber Press.
Some of the plant's amino acids use selenium from the soil in place of sulfur, making it highly toxic to animals.
References
External links Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of Stanleya pinnata var. pinnata UC CalPhotos gallery