Silky Prairie Clover

(Dalea villosa)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: Paul Jackson, Cedar Creek Natural History Area, LTER, U.S. Dept. Energy and National Science Foundation.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Silky Prairie Clover (Dalea villosa [Nutt.] Spreng.)

Identification: Flowers pink, small, pealike, arranged in a dense, elongate flowering spike. Stem wiry and covered with fine, white hairs. Leaves divided into 6 to 15 opposite leaflet pairs and an apical leaflet. Leaflets small and covered with fine hair. Plant 1 to 2 feet in height.

Distribution:  Found in the north from Saskatchewan to Wisconsin and southward to Missouri, Texas, and New Mexico.

Habitat: Silky Prairie Clover is a species of prairies and sandy plains.

Flowering period: July to September.

Similar Species: There are a number of other related species in the prairies of North America. The combination of pink flowers and the silky, downy vegetation will identify this one.

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