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Dalea filiformis
Dalea filiformis A. Gray
Sonoran Prairie Clover
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Synonym(s):
USDA Symbol: DAFI
USDA Native Status: L48 (N)
"Slender, often exiguous annual herbs (4) 7-30 (35) cm tall, sometimes flowering before the cotyledons wither, glabrous to the inflorescence (the leaf-rachis rarely minutely ciliolate), the subfiliform erect angular-ribbed greenish or purplish stems simple only when depauperate, commonly branching from base upward, or from near or above middle, the peduncles both leaf-opposed and terminal, the sparse foliage green, punctate beneath." (bibref: 1812).
"A frail, thinly leafy annual, D. filiformis is instantly recognized by its few (3-5, mostly 3) proportionately very long, threadhke leaflets of which the upper three form an exact trefoil. Other monocarpic members of section Parosela have the odd leaflet raised beyond the last pair. The species most like it habitally is D. transiens, differing technically in the free keel-petals of subgenus Dalea but more obviously in the more numerous (5-13) shorter and proportionately broader leaflets. Other annual daleas found in the range of D. filiformis all have leaflets of a broader type, either pilse or, if glabrous, then either much more numerous, or combined with persistent interfloral bracts." (bibref: 1812).
Plant Characteristics
Duration: AnnualHabit: Herb
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Fruit Type: Legume
Size Notes: "(4) 7-30 (35) cm tall." (bibref: 1812).
Leaf: "Leaf-spurs very short or 0; stipules narrowly subulate, 0.5-1.3 mm long; intrapetlolular glands spiculiform; post-petiolular glands minute, immersed; leaves petiolate (the petiole shorter than the tirst pair of leaflets), 1-3.5 (4) cm long, with 3 or 5 linear-filform involute obtuse to minutely emarginate leaflets 5-23 mm long." (bibref: 1812).
Flower: "Peduncles filiform, (1.3) 2-8 cm long, surpassing the leaf; spikes often few-flowered, depressed-capitate becoming ovoid or shortly oblong, without petals 5-7 mm diameter, the villosulous axis (2) 3-15 (20) mm long; bracts deciduous, rhombic-elliptic or -ovate to ovate-acuminate, 1.5-2.8 mm long, submembranous at base, thence livid and glandular, the lowest glabrous, the upper pilosulous dorsally, all ciliolate; calyx at anthesis turbinate, later distended by the pod, (2.5) 2.8-3.5 mm long, pilosulous with loosely ascending straight hairs up to 0.5-1 mm long, the tube (1.3) 1.5-1.8 mm long, its oritice oblique but not strongly recessed behind banner, the filiform, livid or castaneous ribs becoming prominulous, the membranous intervals glandless or charged with 1 (2) minute glands, the triangular-acuminate or -aris-tate, gland-spurred teeth 1.2-1.8 mm long (about as long or slightly shorter than tube); petals either concolorous, all pinkish- or reddish-purple, or the banner pale at anthesis and rubescent, all glandless, or the keel minutely gland-tipped, the epistemonous ones perched well below middle of androecium; banner 2.6-3.5 mm long, the claw 1.1-1.7 mm, the ovate or deltate-ovate blade 1.4-1.8 mm long, 0.9-1.6 mm wide; wings 1.8-2.4 mm long, the claw 0.5-0.8 mm, the obliquely lanceolate blade 1.2-1.8 (2) mm long, 0.5-0.7 mm wide; keel 2.4-3.2 mm long, the claws 0.8-1.5 mm, the ovate blades 1.4-1.9 mm long, 0.8-1.1 mm wide; androecium 10-merous, but the alternate stamens often reduced in size or obsolescent, the longer ones 2.5-3.5 mm long, free for 0.6-0.9 mm, the connective gland-tipped, the anthers pale, 0.25-0.3 mm long." (bibref: 1812).
Fruit: "Pod obovoid, compressed, exserted from calyx-tube and about as long as the teeth, 2-2.4 mm long, the style-base lateral, the valves hyaline in lower half, thinly papery distally; seed 1.5-1.9 mm long." (bibref: 1812).
Bloom Information
Bloom Color: Red , Pink , PurpleBloom Time: Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov
Bloom Notes: "Petals either concolorous, all pinkish- or reddish-purple, or the banner pale at anthesis and rubescent." (bibref: 1812).
Distribution
USA: AZ , NMNative Distribution: "Rather common but inconspicuous and probably much overlooked. Sierra Madre Occidental from central Durango (municipios Durango and El Salto) northward through Chihuahua to Rio Bavispe in Sonora, and around the headwaters of the Gila River from southern Arizona (Patagonia, Huachuca, Chiricahua Mountains) through southwestern New Mexico (Pinos Altos and Mogollon Mountains) and thence northwest across central Arizona (White Mountains, Santa Catalina Mtountains, and Mogollon Rim) to Hualpai Mountain in Yavapai County." (bibref: 1812).
Native Habitat: "Shallow sandy and stony soils of open oak-pine woodland, coming out into grassland with juniper, 1680-2400 m ( ± 5900-8000 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 filiformis in USDA PlantsFNA: Find Dalea filiformis in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Dalea filiformis
Metadata
Record Modified: 2021-02-25Research By: Joseph A. Marcus