Silky Prairie Clover (Dalea villosa): purple Minnesota wildflowers

Silky Prairie Clover

Plant Info
Also known as:	Downy Prairie Clover
Scientific name:	Dalea villosa
Family:	Pea (Fabaceae)
Life cycle:	perennial
Origin:	native
Habitat:	sun; dry; sandy soil, prairies
Bloom season:	summer
Plant height:	12 to 18 inches
USDA PLANTS database:	Minnesota county distribution map
Spotted in Ramsey County at:	Long Lake Regional Park

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Flower:: A tightly packed cylindrical spike, 1 to 5 inches long, of tiny flowers with long pale yellow-tipped stamen. Flower color ranges from lavender to pink, and is sometimes white. One plant can have several spikes.
Leaves and stem:: Compound leaves are about 1 inch long and have up to 21 narrow leaflets, each about ¼ inch long. Leaves are covered in fine tan hairs, giving the leaves a grayish hue. The main stem is also densely covered in fine hairs.
Notes:: Silky Prairie Clover is similar to Lead Plant; both grow in clumps in the same type of habitat, have long spikes with protruding stamen and hairy compound leaves. Lead Plant is generally a larger plant, however, with larger leaves, its flowers are more blue in color, and the stem is woody and hairless. It also blooms earlier. Silky Prairie Clover comes in when Lead Plant goes out.

Photos taken at Long Lake Regional Park, New Brighton, MN, July 2007

Have you seen this plant in Ramsey County, or have any other comments about it?