Wooly Dalea (Dalea lanata)

   
 

Flowers and foliage of Wooly Dalea. Photographs by Wynn Anderson.

• Common English Names: Wooly Dalea, Woolly prairie clover, Dune prairie clover, Spreading indigobush
• Common Spanish Names:
• Scientific Name: Dalea lanata variety terminalis and variety lanata (DAY-lee-uh lan-AE-tuh var. terr-men-AL-is, var. lan-AEE-tuh)
• Family: Fabaceae-Papilionoideae (Pea Family)
• Geographic Range: Deep sandy soils of Nevada, Utah, Colorado to Kansas, south through Arizona, New Mexico, the Texas panhandle, West and South Texas and into Chihuahua, Mexico.
• Plant Form: Herbaceous perennial, 6" H x 24" W.
• Remarks: Trailing, prostrate herb, branching from central crown with hairy, glandular foliage and rose-purple spikes of small pea-like flowers July to October. Low water, full sun and root hardy, but requires well draining, sandy soil. Cut to ground after killing frost. Western variety terminalis has hairless calyx tube with prominent oil glands on stems, leaves and calyces. Eastern form, variety lanata, has densely hairy calyx tubes.

Last Update: 24 Jan 2003