Calliandra peninsularis Rose

Baja fairy duster

The Baja fairy duster is a type of mimosa.

Identification: I’m guessing that photo 2 is Calliandra penin­sularis rather than a somewhat smaller Callliandra californica because I saw this at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and their web site lists C. peninsularis.

Plants: Shrubs are up to 6½′ (2 m) in size.

Leaves: Like other fairy dusters (e.g. Calliandra haematocephala, Calliandra eriophylla), these have small dark green bipinnate leaves.

Flowers: The soft-bristled “flowers” are really sprays of stamens. The shape of the “brush” is like an inverted cone; in others it is more rounded. The flowers are small and white, fused together at the base of the stamens, and not very interesting (unless of course you happen to be a hummingbird).

Fruits: Pods in groups of 1-4, erect, 2–4 ⨉ ¼–⅝″ (6–11 cm ⨉ 7.5–17 mm), with 4-8 obovoid seeds per pod, each ~¼ ⨉ ⅛–3/16″ (6.5–7 ⨉ 4.7–5.2 mm). As the pods dry out, they build up pressure like a coiled spring, eventually exploding to spread their seeds.

Habitats: Deserts, tropics.

Online References:

Calliandra peninsularis description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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