Nineanther Prairie Clover

Parosela enneandra (Nutt.) Britton, Mem. Torrey Club 5: 196. 1894.
Dalea enneandra Nutt.; Fraser, Cat. 1813.
Dalea laxiflora Pursh. Fl. Am. Sept. 741. 1814.
Psoralea laxiflora Poir. in Lam. Encyc. Suppl. 4: 590. 1816.
Cylipogon virgatum Raf. Jour. Phys. 89: 97. 1819.
Dalea penicillata Moric. PI. Nouv. Am. 66. 1S39.
Pelalostemon laxiflorus Steud. Nom. Bot. ed. 2. 2: 308. 1841.
A perennial, with a woody root; stems mostly single, 3-10 dm. high, glabrous, branched above; leaves 2-3 cm. long; stipules subulate; rachis margined, glandular-dotted; leaflets 5-9, linear or narrowly oblong, conspicuously glandular-dotted beneath, 5-12 mm. long, glabrous and bluish-green; peduncles slender, 2-4 cm. long; spikes very lax, 5-12 cm. long; bracts broadly ovate, short acuminate, densely glandular-dotted on the back, conspicuously scariousmargined; calyx-tube turbinate, 3 mm. long, densely silky; lobes filiform with a triangular base, 4 mm. long, beautifully plumose; corolla white; blade of the banner rounded-cordate, glandular-dotted below, 3 mm. long, the claw 3 mm. long; wings inserted near the middle of the staminate tube, the keel-petals higher up, the blades of the former 4 mm., those of the latter 5 mm. long, the claws of both 1.5-2 mm. long; pod densely villous above, glabrous below.
Type locality: On the Missouri River.
Distribution: Iowa to North Dakota, New Mexico, Texas, and Mississippi.

Perennial, Shrubs, Herbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Plants with rhizomes or suckers, 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 alternate, 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, Inflorescence terminal, Bracts conspicuously present, Bracteoles present, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx hairy, P etals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals white, Banner petal narrow or oblanceolate, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Banner petal auriculate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing petals auriculate, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel petals auriculate, spurred, or gibbous, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens monadelphous, united below, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit indehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit enclosed in calyx, Fruit hairy, Fruit 1-seeded, Seeds reniform, Seeds cordiform, mit-shaped, notched at one end, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.