Compact Prairie Clover

Petalostemon compactus (Spreng.) Swezey, Neb Fl. PI. 6. 1891.
Dalea compacta Spreng. Syst. 3: 327. 1826.
Petalostemon macrostachyus Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 2: 176. 1827.
Kuhnistera compacta Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 192. 1891.
A perennial, with a woody tap-root; stems several, 4-8 dm. high, glabrous, striate, leafy; leaves numerous, ascending, 5-8 cm. long; stipules subulate; leaflets 5-7, oblong, oblong-lanceolate, or linear-oblong, acute or obtuse, short-petiolulate, glabrous, glandular-dotted beneath, light-green above, pale beneath, 1.5-2.5 cm. long; spikes cylindric, dense, In fruit 1012 mm. thick, 2-15 cm. long; bracts linear-lanceolate, attenuate, densely pubescent with long silky hairs; calyx 4.5 mm. long, densely silky-villous with brown hairs; lobes narrowly lanceolate, equaling the tube; corolla white or yellowish-white; blade of the banner cordate, 2 mm. long, the claw 4 mm. long; blades of the other petals lanceolate or oblanceolate, 2 mm. long, the claws about 1 mm. long; pod broadly obliquely obovate, almost half-round, 3 mm. long, sparingly pubescent.
Type locality: "Rio Roxo, Arkansas" [? Canadian River. Oklahoma]. Distribution: Nebraska. Colorado, and Wyoming; (Oklahoma?).

Petalostemon decumbens Nutt. Jour. Acad. Phila
7: 93. 1834.
Kuhnistera decumbens Kuntze. Rev. Gen. 192. 1891.
A perennial; stems solitary or several, decumbent or ascending, glabrous or sparingly pubescent, striate; leaves numerous, 3-5 cm. long, ascending; stipules subulate; leaflets 5-7, linear or linear-oblong, 8-20 mm. long, acute or mucronate, slightly involute on the margins, sparingly pilose, glandular-dotted beneath; spikes ovoid or short-oblong, 1-2 cm. long, fully 1 cm. thick in fruit; bracts lanceolate, attenuate, much longer than the calyces and buds; calyx with short silky appressed pubescence, 4 mm. long; lobes lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, shorter than the tube, acute; corolla pink or rose-purple; blade of the banner oblong-ovate, cordate at the base, 3 mm. long, equaling the claw; blades of the other petals linear-oblong, fully 3 mm. long, the claws less than 1 mm. long; pod broadly and obliquely obovate, strigillose.
Type locality: Plains of Red River [Arkansas?]. Distribution: Arkansas and Texas.

Perennial, Herbs, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems less than 1 m tall, Plants gland-dotted or with gland-tipped hairs, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Leaves al ternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules inconspicuous, absent, or caducous, Stipules setiform, subulate or acicular, Stipules deciduous, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves odd pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 5-9, Leaves glandular punctate or gland-dotted, Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Inflorescences spikes or spike-like, Inflorescences globose heads, capitate or subcapitate, Inflorescence terminal, Bracts conspicuously present, Bracts hairy, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx hairy, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals pinkish to rose, Petals blue, lavander to purple, or violet, Banner petal narrow or oblanceolate, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Fertile stamens 5, Stamens monadelphous, united below, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit indehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Frui t oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit enclosed in calyx, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit 1-seeded, Seeds reniform, Seeds cordiform, mit-shaped, notched at one end, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.

Dalea compacta, with the common name compact praireclover, is a plant of the Southwestern United States.