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Dalea scariosa
Dalea scariosa S. Watson
Albuquerque Prairie Clover
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Synonym(s): Petalostemon prostratus, Petalostemon scariosus
USDA Symbol: DASC4
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
"Diffuse perennial herbs from a stout woody root and shortly forking caudex, glabrous up to the puberulent inflorescence, the decumbentiy radiating and assurgent, striate-angular, pale green or stramineous, gland-tuberculate stems 2-7 dm long, freely branching into fan-shaped sprays, the spikes mostly terminal to branchlets, the foliage pallid, thick-textured, the leaflets yellow-green above, glaucous and punctate beneath." (bibref: 1812).
"Prairie-clover of arid Southwestern United States, with thick-textured, glaucescent foliage and moderately dense spikes of rose-purple flowers; confined to bluffs of the Rio Grande valley in north-central New Mexico, flowers in late summer, from August onward; the foliage and outer surface of the calyx are always glabrous; and the stems are diffusely trailing and freely branched to form fan-shaped sprays of many spikes; calyx deeply recessed behind the banner and in fruit constricted just above the base." (bibref: 1812).
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Plant Characteristics
Duration: PerennialHabit: Herb
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Fruit Type: Legume
Size Notes: "Stems 2-7 dm long." (bibref: 1812).
Leaf: "Leaf-spurs 0.2-0.6 mm long; stipules triangular-subulate, 0.2-1.5 mm long, eariy becoming papery, castaneous, deciduous; intrapetlolular glands 0; post-petiolular glands prominent, obtuse; leaves slender-petioled, 1-2.5 cm long, the tuberculate rachis narrowly thick-margined, the leaflets (2) 3-4 pairs, obovate-cuneate, emarginate, loosely folded, 3-8 mm long." (bibref: 1812).
Flower: "Peduncles 0.5-4 (5) cm long; spikes moderately loose or eariy becoming so, the calyces (pressed) falling into 2-3 ranks, at flrst narrowly ovoid becoming cylindric or catkinlike, without petals or androecia 9-11 mm diam, the puberulent axis at length 1.5-9 (13) cm long; bracts early deciduous, elliptic- or ovate-acuminate, 2.5-5 mm long, dry and brownish with minutely lacerate scarious margins, dorsally glabrous and sparsely glandular, ciliolate; calyx 4-5.8 mm long, in profile obovate-pyriform, glabrous except for the internally short-pilosulous teeth and oritice, the tube 3-3.8 mm long, recessed behind banner, plicate at the narrow base but (when fresh) only low-ribbed and not corrugated distally, the ribs subfiliform, immersed distally, the intervals pale green, herbaceous, charged with one row of 3-5 (or the ventral pair with 2-3 rows of several) golden or reddish blister glands, the teeth of about equal length, 1.1-2 mm long, the dorsal one and lateral pair subulate, the ventral pair broadly triangular- or deltate-apiculate, all spurless; petals all lilac-pink or pale rose-purple, the banner sometimes charged with a subapical gland; banner 7.2-8 mm long, the claw 3.2-3.8 mm, the suborbicular-cordate, distally hooded and shallowly emarginate blade about 4-4.5 mm long and wide; mugs 4.2-4.4 mm long, the claw 0.4-0.5 mm, the obovate blade 3.7-4 mm long, 2-2.2 mm wide; keel-petals about 4.8 mm long, the claw 0.7-1.1 mm, the oblong-obovate blade 3.7-4 mm long, about 1.8 mm wide; androecium 5 (according to Standley sometimes 6-numerous), 8.5-9.8 mm long, the column 3.5-4.5 mm, the free filaments up to 5-5.4 mm long, pinkish." (bibref: 1812).
Fruit: "Pod 3.2-4 mm long, in profile half-obovate, the ventral suture concavely and the dorsal one strongly convexly arched, the valves in lower third subhyaline, thence papery, pale-green, gland-sprinkled, glabrous except for a short beard along ventral suture and base of style; seed 2.3-3 mm long." (bibref: 1812).
Bloom Information
Bloom Color: Pink , PurpleBloom Time: Sep
Bloom Notes: "Petals all lilac-pink or pale rose-purple." (bibref: 1812).
Distribution
USA: NMNative Distribution: "Local, known only from the neighborhood of Albuquerque and Belen, Bernalillo and Valencia counties, New Mexico." (bibref: 1812).
Native Habitat: "Gullied sand and cobblestone bluffs along the upper Rio Grande, at ± 1460-1510 m (4900-5030 ft)." (bibref: 1812).
Bibliography
Bibref 1812 - Daleae imagines : an illustrated revision of Errazurizia Philippi, Psorothamnus Rydberg, Marina Leibmann, and Dalea Lucanus emend. Barneby, including all species of Leguminosae tribe Amorpheae Borissova ever referred to Dalea (1977) Barneby, Rupert C.Search More Titles in Bibliography
Additional resources
USDA: Find Dalea scariosa in USDA PlantsFNA: Find Dalea scariosa in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Dalea scariosa
Metadata
Record Modified: 2020-12-07Research By: Joseph A. Marcus