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Anderson, Wynn

Dalea versicolor var. sessilis

Dalea versicolor Zucc. var. sessilis (A. Gray) Barneby

Oakwoods Prairie Clover, Weeping Dalea

Fabaceae (Pea family)

Synonym(s): Dalea wislizeni ssp. sessilis, Dalea wislizeni var. sanctae-crucis

USDA Symbol: DAVES

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

"Stems 1-several, mostly 2-7 dm long, suffruticulose or sometimes truly shrubby, in fall few-branched distally, each branch terminating in a relatively long spike." (bibref: 1812).

"The showy spring form of D. v. var. sessilis, in which the stems are clad in place of primary leaves, now fallen, with a succession of subsessile heads representing axillary short-shoots, resembles the seasonal equivalent of D. v. var. calcarata a very closely. They have essentially the same type of leaflet and can hardly be told apart except in the autumnal stage, of which the primary cauline leaves have significantly more numerous leaflets." (bibref: 1812).

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Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Subshrub , Shrub
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Fruit Type: Legume
Leaf: "In spring floriferous serially along the old stems from axillary short-shoots; stipules 1-3 mm long; foliage always more or less pilosulous or puberulent, the primary leaves often less densely so than the secondary ones; leaflets of primary leaves 4-9 pairs, oblanceolate to elliptic or obovate, mostly obtuse or retuse, usually not strongly carinate." (bibref: 1812).
Flower: "Spikes 12-15 mm diameter, the axis 0.5-2 cm long; calyx 5.1-1 mm, the tube 2.4-2.8 (3) mm, the dorsal tooth 3-4 mm long; epistemonous petals rose-pink or -purple, the keel-blades often paler in outer half." (bibref: 1812).

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: Pink , Purple
Bloom Time: Apr , May , Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov
Bloom Notes: "Epistemonous petals rose-pink or -purple, the keel-blades often paler in outer half." (bibref: 1812). "Flowering late August to November, and again abundantly in April and May." (bibref: 1812).

Distribution

USA: AZ , NM
Native Distribution: "Locally abundant around the periphery of the Gila basin in southeastern Arizona (southern Pinal, Graham, southern Greenlee, Pima, Cochise, and Santa Cruz counties), southward along the west slope of Sierra Madre to the upper Rio Papagochic in Chihuahua, and through the hill-country of northeastern Sonora as far as Sierra de Charuco on the Chihuahua-Sonora border in latitude 30� N." (bibref: 1812).
Native Habitat: "Rocky hillsides and boulder-strewn canyon benches, in grama grassland and open oak woodland, 900-2100 m (3000-7000 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.

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Additional resources

USDA: Find Dalea versicolor var. sessilis in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Dalea versicolor var. sessilis in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Dalea versicolor var. sessilis

Metadata

Record Modified: 2021-02-25
Research By: Joseph A. Marcus

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