Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea)

Fig. 1. Overview of Purple Prairie Clover. Photograph by Wynn Anderson. Fig. 2. Flowers of Purple Prairie Clover (several blossoms of Wine Cups also can be seen ). Photograph by A. H. Harris.

• Common English Names: Purple Prairie Clover, Violet Prairie Clover, Indigo Bush
• Common Spanish Names:
• Scientific Name: Dalea purpurea (DAY-lee-uh pur-PURR-ee-uh) (formerly Petalostemon purpurea)
• Family: Fabaceae-Papilioniodeae (Pea Family)
• Geographic Range: Grasslands of the Great Plains from southern Canada south to northeastern New Mexico, North Texas, and east to Illinois, Arkansas, and Missouri. Infrequent westward to eastern Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming. Isolated population in Guadalupe Mountains of Trans-Pecos Texas, southern New Mexico.
• Plant Form: Herbaceous perennial 2 x 2'.
• Remarks: Numerous slender, erect stems lined by abundant lime-green, often 5-segmented, short linear leaves. Stems rise from a central crown and are terminated by tight cylindrical spikes of small rose-magenta blooms in mid-summer. Moderate water, full sun, loamy soil. Hardy, dying to crown with killing frost to recover in spring

Last Update: 24 Jan 2003