Palm-leaf scurf-pea

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Palm-leaf scurf-pea leaf underside

Palm-leaf scurf-pea leaf

Palm-leaf scurf-pea

Palm-leaf scurf-pea

Palm-leaf scurf-pea calyces and bracts

Palm-leaf scurf-peaf calyces in fruit

Palm-leaf scurf-pea calyces

Palm-leaf scurf-pea leaves

Palm-leaf scurf-pea

Palm-leaf scurf-pea

Morphology

Stem

Erect or ascending, stiffly open-branched, pubescent.

Leaves

Alternate, palmately 5-foliolate or sometimes 3-foliolate on branches; leaflets linear or linear-oblanceolate, 3/5 to 2.8 inches long, 1/12 to 1/3 inch wide, middle leaflet longest; upper surface mostly glabrous, gland-dotted; lower surface densely appressed-hairy, gray; tip pointed or rounded, often with short spine; stalks 4/5 to 2.8 inches long; stipules lanceolate, 1/5 to 2/5 inch long, stiff-hairy.

Inflorescence

Raceme, erect or ascending, spike-like, slender, 1.2 to 3.6 inches long, terminal on stalks 2 to 7 inches long from leaf axils; flowers in well-separated whorls of 3-11, mostly sessile; bracts subtending flowers 2-3, egg-shaped to spoon-shaped.

Flower

Calyx tube bell-shaped, 1/10 to 1/8 inch long, densely silky, 2-lipped, lobes tapering-pointed; upper 4 lobes 1/8 to 1/6 inch long; lower lobe 1/5 to 1/4 inch long; corolla papilionaceous, blue, purple, or rarely white, fading yellowish-brown; banner egg-shaped, about 1/2 inch long; wings 1/4 inch long; stamens 10, 9 united, 1 free.

Fruit

Pod, enclosed in persistent calyx, 1-seeded, papery, 1/4 to 1/3 inch long, with flat, straight beak; seeds broadly elliptic, 1/6 to 1/5 inch long, 1/8 inch wide, shiny, slightly flattened, olive to dark-brown.

Ecology

Habitat

Sandy prairies, stream valleys, sand dunes, gravelly hillsides, sandy open wooded hillsides; sandy or clay soils.

Distribution

Central 1/3 and southwest 1/4

Additional Notes

Synonyms

Alternative scientific names that have been used for this plant.