Dalea pringlei

Wiggins 1964

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Subshrub General: Upright perennial, slightly suffrutescent, with green glabrous and glaucous stems 15-60 cm tall with linear-subulate stipules, 2 mm long. Leaves: Pinnate leaves 1.5-6 cm long, 15-47 leaflets, oblong to elliptic, acute to obtuse at both ends, glabrous, glandular punctate beneath. Flowers: Dense spikes 2-10 cm long, 7-10 mm thick, ovate bracts, abruptly short-acuminate, 4-5 mm long, densely silky-villous on margins and lower part, gland-dotted on back, dark-colored; calyx campanulate, densely villous, tube 2-2.2 mm long; calyx lobes lance-subulate, pilose, 2.5-3 mm long, corolla rose or purplish, blade of banner ovate, about 1.5 mm long, claw 2.5 mm long. Fruits: Obovate pod, densely pilose, gland-dotted. Ecology: Found on slopes from 2,500-5,000 ft (762-1524 m); flowers April-October. Notes: Distinguished by its purple flowers, with calyx lobes that are commonly longer than the tube, paired petals oval to elliptic, as well as the glabrous stems and leaves. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Dalea is named for Samuel Dale (1659-1739) an English physician and botanist, while pringlei is named for Cyrus Guernsey Pringle (1838-1911) an American plant collector. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley, 2010