NINE-ANTHER PRAIRIE CLOVER
File Size: 37 KB
 
Dalea enneandra  Nutt.
Marshall County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 1-5 feet
Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family
Flowering Period:   June, July, August, September
Also Called: Nine-anther dalea, big-top dalea, sail-pod dalea.
Stems: Erect, 1-3, simple in lower 1/3 to 2/3, bushy-branched above, glabrous to inflorescence; branches many, slender, ascending.
Leaves: Alternate, odd-pinnate, nearly sessile; primary stem leaves usually absent by flowering; branch leaves with 5 to 13 leaflets, narrowly linear to oblong, 1/6 to 1/2 inch long, 1/25 to 1/12 inch wide, glabrous, waxy, gland-dotted; tips rounded or pointed.
Inflorescences: Spike, slender, drooping, 2-35-flowered, terminal on branches; flowers appearing 2-ranked, widely separated.
Flowers: Bracts prominent, egg-shaped, 1/8 to 1/6 inch long, green, enfolding calyx; margin conspicuous, pale or white; body glabrous, gland-dotted; calyx tube about 1/8 inch long; calyx teeth 5, 1/8 to 1/6 inch long, silky-hairy, plume-like; corolla papilionaceous; petals white; stamens 9.
Fruits: Pod, 1/8 inch long, 1-seeded; seed 1/10 inch long, smooth, yellow.
Habitat: Dry prairies and hillsides, roadsides, stream valleys; rocky calcareous or silty soils.
Distribution: West 4/5 of Kansas.
Origin: Native
Uses: The Kiowa made small arrow shafts from the stem, which they tipped with thorns and used to hunt small animals.
Comments: The root is woody and orange-yellow.

Nine-anther prairie clover flowers
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Marshall County, Kansas
Nine-anther prairie clover calyx teeth
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Nine-anther prairie clover leaves
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Marshall County, Kansas
Nine-anther prairie clover
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Marshall County, Kansas
Nine-anther prairie clover inflorescence
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Marshall County, Kansas
Nine-anther prairie clover
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Marshall County, Kansas
Nine-anther prairie clover inflorescence
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Marshall County, Kansas
Nine-anther prairie clover leaves
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Nine-anther prairie clover habit
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Nine-anther prairie clover bracts
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Nine-anther prairie clover flowers
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Marshall County, Kansas
Nine-anther prairie clover
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Marshall County, Kansas
Nine-anther prairie clover inflorescence
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Marshall County, Kansas
Nine-anther prairie leaves
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Marshall County, Kansas