Flower:

Racemes of 5 to 15 pea-shaped flowers. Flowers are about ¾ inch long with an erect broad egg-shaped upper petal, notched at the tip, and 2 small lower petals that are mostly horizontal. The tubular calyx holding the flower is purple tinged with several prong-like appendages at the tip end. Flower color ranges from pinkish purple to lavender to blue-violet. A plant has several to many clusters on stalks up to 4 inches long arising from the leaf axils.

Leaves and stem:

Leaves are compound in groups of 15 to 29. Leaflets are about 1/3 to ½ inch long, less than ¼ inch wide, generally elliptic with a pointed or blunt tip, hairy to varying degrees on both sides. Stems are hairy, sprawling along the ground and rising at the tip end (decumbent).

Fruit:

Fruit is a smooth round pod ½ to 1 inch across that ripens to purple, and resembles a plum.

Inside are 1/8-inch, somewhat kidney shaped black seeds.

Notes:

Both the Dakota and Lakota ate the Ground Plum fruit, but you should never eat wild plants unless you know what you are doing and have a positive ID. Many species in the legume family are toxic.