Summary ³

Pectis angustifolia (lemonscented cinchweed) is an annually flowering plant, blooming in summer with seeds that ripen in early fall. It is found in Western North America in states ranging from Nebraska to Arizona. It has medicinal uses and has been eaten boiled with green corn among the Hopi of Arizona.

Botanical Information ⁴

Pectis angustifolia, or commonly known as lemonscent, is an herbaceous annual plant that produces small yellow flowers from June to September. It has a leafy, slender stem that grows 5-8 inches tall. The leaves are fleshy, opposite, sessile, linear, lemon-scented, and measure 1-4mm long by 1-3mm wide.

Ecological Information ⁴

Lemonscent can be found throughout western North American, including Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico in dry uplands, sandy ravines, plains, hills, mesas and sand bars, and in desert scrublands. Its contribution to wildlife includes nectar for bees, butterflies, and other insects as well as seeds for granivorous birds.

Ethnobotanical Information ⁴

Lemonscent is edible and medicinal. It's leaves are consumed raw or cooked, used as a seasoning, and also used as a flavoring for hot tea since they have a strong lemon-scent. You can put a sprig of it into your water bottle for flavor. The plant yields an inferior dye.

This plant is carminative and emetic. Crushed leaves are used to treat stomach pain. All flowers and plants of the Pectis genus have oil glands embedded in plant tissues that can be seen with low magnification or the naked eye. Some kinds of oil have lemon aromas, some have spicy smells, and some have little or no aroma. These oils may help stop herbivores, including insects. In addition, the flowers mixed with salt have been eaten in the treatment of stomach complaints.

References ⁵

Diggs, G. M., Lipscomb, B. L., O’Kennon, B., O’Kennon, R. J., Austin College (Sherman, T. C. E. S., & Illustrated Texas Floras Project. (1999). Shinners & Mahler’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas (p 274). Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

Genders, R. (November 2001). Scented Flora of the World (p. 245). The Crowood Press.

Kunkel, G. (April 1985). Plants for Human Consumption. Economic Botany 39, p 177. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02907842

McDonald, C. (n.d.). Lemonscent (Pectis angustifolia). Plant of the Week, U.S. Forest Service. Retrieved November 9, 2021 from https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/pectis_angustifolia.shtml

Moerman, D. E. (1998). Native American Ethnobotany (1st ed., p. 257). Timber Press, Incorporated.

United States Department of Agriculture. (2014). Pectis angustifolia. In
PLANTS Database. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=PEAN

University of Texas. (n.d). Pectis angustifolia. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PEAN

Whiting, A. F. (1950). Ethnobotany of the Hopi. Museum of Northern Arizona (2nd ed., Bulletin 15). Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art.

Yanovsky, E. (1936). Food Plants of the North American Indians, (Vol. 237), p 161. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers, Pectis Angustifolia, www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/Yellow Enlarged Photo Pages/pectis angustifolia.htm.

Southwest Colorado Wildflowers, Pectis Angustifolia, www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/Yellow Enlarged Photo Pages/pectis angustifolia.htm.

About the Author ⁶

Student author*: Lucy (age 17) from Menaul School

*The entries in this field guide have been edited by Yerba Mansa Project staff to ensure that they contain quality, fact-checked content and standardized formatting. https://yerbamansaproject.org/

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Richard Reynolds, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Richard Reynolds
2. (c) lucyliang1, all rights reserved
3. Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectis_angustifolia
4. Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) lucyliang1, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
5. Adapted by Kiley Spurlock from a work by (c) lucyliang1, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
6. Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) smiller33, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• World Flora Online

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