Dalea lachnostachys

Kearney and Peebles 1969, McDougall 1973

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Herbaceous perennials, to 40 cm tall, stems prostrate to weakly ascending, herbage gland-dotted, pubescent. Leaves: Alternate, compound, odd-pinnate, leaflets 9-11, oblong, 8-15 mm long, with small, subulate stipules. Flowers: Light purple to blue purple, with banner, wing, and keel petals (papilionaceous), petals clawed, inserted on the stamen tube, (leaving scars after the petals fall), calyx 5-toothed, persistent, calyx lobes awned with a soft bristle and covered in soft hairs, stamens monadelphous, not exserted, inflorescences dense, soft-hairy, flowers borne in terminal racemes 4-8 cm long, 15-20 mm wide, the branches deciduous, with short pedicels, the floral bracts also early deciduous. Fruits: Pods small, indehiscent, seeds 1 or 2. Ecology: Found in rocky outcrops and gravelly slopes in grassland and desert scrub from 3,500-5,000 ft (1067-1524 m); flowering September. Distribution: AZ, NM, TX; MEX. Notes: Distinguished by being an ascending to prostrate perennial with a strong odor; especially obvious are the leaves and stems which are conspicuously gland-dotted with dark glands that protrude from the surfaces; the thick, hairy infl 4-8 cm long, 15-20 mm wide and purple flws pedicelled. Ethnobotany: There is no use recorded for this species, but other species in this genus have uses. Etymology: Dalea is named after Samuel Dale (1659-1739), an English physician, botanist and botanical collector, and gardener who was the author of several botanical works and a treatise on medicinal plants, while the meaning of lachnostachys is unknown. Synonyms: None Editor: LCrumbacher 2012, FSCoburn 2015