Dermatophyllum guadalupense (Guadalupe Mescalbean)

Dermatophyllum guadalupense (Guadalupe Mescalbean)

Photograph by Ellen Mayo (2000)
Family
FABACEAE
Scientific Name with Author
Dermatophyllum guadalupense (B.L.Turner & A.M. Powell) B.L. Turner
Synonyms
SOPHORA GYPSOPHILA TURNER & POWELL VAR. GUADALUPENSIS B.L. TURNER & A.M. POWELL; DERMATOPHYLLUM GYPSOPHILUM (B.L. TURNER & A.M. POWELL) VINCENT SUBSP. GUADALUPENSIS (B.L. TURNER & A.M. POWELL) VINCENT
Common Name
Guadalupe Mescalbean
Agency Status
USFWS State of NM USFS BLM Navajo Nation State Rank Global Rank R-E-D Code NMRPTC Status Strategy Status
SEN SEN S1 G2 3-1-2 R SS
Rare Plant Conservation Scorecard Summary
Overall Conservation Status Documented Threats Actions Needed
WEAKLY CONSERVED

Caterpillar herbivory (Uresiphita reversalis).

Avoid direct future oil or gas development impacts, survey for distribution and threats, fire management, designation of proposed Brokeoff Mtn/Guadalupe Rim ACEC
County Map
Counties
Description
Evergreen shrub, about 1 m tall; leaves pinnately compound with 7-13 oval, leathery, satiny pubescent leaflets; flowers pea-like, purple (rarely white), about 25 mm long; pods 5-14 cm long, 10-14 mm wide, slightly constricted between the seeds; seeds quadrangular, reddish-brown, 7-10 mm long, 6-7 mm wide. Flowers from late March to late April.
Similar Species
Dermatophyllum secundiflorum is a taller shrub with leaflets that are hairless on the under surface. Its pods are more cylindrical and deeply constricted between the seeds, and its seeds are rounded and bright reddish-orange.
Distribution
New Mexico, Otero and Eddy counties; Brokeoff Mountains and Upper Dog Canyon area of the Guadalupe Mountains in New Mexico and adjacent Culberson County, Texas. (The only known Eddy County location straddles the Otero/Eddy county line.)
Habitat
Outcrops of pink, limy, fine-grained sandstone that is 1-2 percent gypsum (by analysis) in Chihuahuan desert scrub and juniper savanna; 1,720-2,180 m (5,260-6,650 ft).
Remarks
Dermatophyllum guadalupense is disjunct, but differs only slightly from Dermatophyllum gypsophilum, which occurs in eastern Chihuahua. The Guadalupe Mountain plants have slightly larger seeds and hairier leaflets. The sandy, gypseous nature of this shrub's habitat is often masked by a surface pavement of limestone gravel and cobble. These gypseous soils are often indicated by the presence of Tiquilia hispidissima (an obligate gypsophile).
Conservation Considerations
This is an attractive, unpalatable shrub. Its habitat is in a remote region and the current land uses do not represent any significant threats. Future oil or gas development in this area should attempt to avoid direct impacts on this very rare plant.
Important Literature

*New Mexico Native Plants Protection Advisory Committee. 1984. A handbook of rare and endemic plants of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

Northington, D.K. 1976. Evidence bearing on the origin of infraspecific disjunction in Sophora gypsophila. Plant Systematics and Evolution 125:233-244.

Sivinski, R.C. 1991. Status report on Sophora gypsophila var. guadalupensis. For U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, Albuquerque.

Turner, B.L. and A.M. Powell. 1972. A new gypsophilic Sophora from north-central Mexico and adjacent Texas. Phytologia 22:419-423.

Turner, B.L. 2012. New names in Dermatophyllum. Phytoneuron 2012-3:1-4.

Gandhi, K.N., M.A. Vincent and L.J. Reveal. 2011. Dermatophyllum, the correct name for Calia (Fabaceae). Phytoneuron 2011-57:1-4.

Information Compiled By
Robert Sivinski 1999; last updated 2012

For distribution maps and more information, visit Natural Heritage New Mexico