Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Nine-anther prairie clover

NINE-ANTHER PRAIRIE CLOVER

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Dalea enneandra Nutt.

Marshall County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-5 feet

Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family

Flowering Period: June, July, August, September

Also Called:

Nine-anther dalea, big-top dalea, sail-pod dalea.

Stems:

Erect, 1-3, simple in lower 1/3 to 2/3, bushy-branched above, glabrous to inflorescence; branches many, slender, ascending.

Leaves:

Alternate, odd-pinnate, nearly sessile; primary stem leaves usually absent by flowering; branch leaves with 5 to 13 leaflets, narrowly linear to oblong, 1/6 to 1/2 inch long, 1/25 to 1/12 inch wide, glabrous, waxy, gland-dotted; tips rounded or pointed.

Inflorescences:

Spike, slender, drooping, 2-35-flowered, terminal on branches; flowers appearing 2-ranked, widely separated.

Flowers:

Bracts prominent, egg-shaped, 1/8 to 1/6 inch long, green, enfolding calyx; margin conspicuous, pale or white; body glabrous, gland-dotted; calyx tube about 1/8 inch long; calyx teeth 5, 1/8 to 1/6 inch long, silky-hairy, plume-like; corolla papilionaceous; petals white; stamens 9.

Fruits:

Pod, 1/8 inch long, 1-seeded; seed 1/10 inch long, smooth, yellow.

Habitat:

Dry prairies and hillsides, roadsides, stream valleys; rocky calcareous or silty soils.

Distribution:

West 4/5 of Kansas.

Origin:

Native

Uses:

The Kiowa made small arrow shafts from the stem, which they tipped with thorns and used to hunt small animals.

Comments:

The root is woody and orange-yellow.