Flower:

The small dark blue-violet flowers are in open spikes from upper leaf axils, each spike with 1 to 5 leafy bracts where 2 to 8 flowers whorl around the stem. Flowers are less than ¼ inch wide, with a flaring upper lip and two lateral wings of same length as upper lip with a small keel shaped lower lip obscured underneath. Flower stalks, bracts and calyx tubes are densely covered in silvery hairs.

Leaves and stem:

Leaves are palmately compound in groups of 3 to 5, on a stalk to 1½ inches long. Leaflets are oval to lance elliptic, unequal in size, ¾ to 1¼ inch long, ¼ to ½ inch wide, toothless, pointed on both ends. Stems are erect, many branched and spreading laterally. Both leaves and stems are covered with dense, shiny hairs that give the plant a silvery appearance.

Fruit:

Fruit is a 1-seeded pod less than ¼ inch long.

Notes:

Both Silverleaf Scurfpea and Prairie Turnip (P.  esculenta) are restricted to open prairie habitats and are relatively common. Like White Sage (Artemisia ludoviciana), the light colored foliage helps it stand out at a distance. While this species has observed many places in western Minnesota, most images here came from near Garrison North Dakota. This species was formerly known as Psoralea argophylla.