Dalea emarginata
Dalea albiflora
wedgeleaf prairie clover
whiteflower prairie clover
(1.5–)2–6 dm, with scattered, small, raised glands distally.
(2–)2.5–5(–7) dm, sparsely gland-dotted distally.
spikes, densely flowered, inconspicuously involucrate (lowest bracts not subtending flowers), 8.5–10.5(–11) mm diam.;
axis not visible, 1–4(–4.5) cm;
bracts persistent through anthesis, 1–2.5 mm.
spikes, densely flowered, not involucrate, 7–10 mm diam.;
axis not visible, (1–)1.5–6(–7) cm;
bracts early deciduous to persistent, 1.5–3.2 mm.
(6–)10–35(–40) cm.
0.5–8.5 cm.
5, sometimes with vestiges of alternate filaments, 3.8–4.6 mm, filaments distinct to 0.9–1.2 mm, anthers 0.5 mm.
10, (5–)6–8 mm, filaments distinct to 3.5–4.5 mm, anthers 0.4–0.6 mm.
magenta-purple;
not conventionally papilionaceous;
banner 3.8–4.4 mm, blade ovate, 1.8 × 1.2 mm; epistemonous petals attached at or abaxial pair just proximal to filament separation, blades 1.6–2 × 0.5–0.9 mm.
white;
not conventionally papilionaceous;
banner plane, (4.4–)5–6.4 mm, blade oblong-ovate, not peltate, proximally cordate to cuneate, (2.6–)3–4 × (2–)2.2–3.4 mm; epistemonous petals attached high on stamen tube, just proximal to separation of filaments, blades (2.7–)3.1–4.4 × (0.8–)1.3–1.9(–2.2) mm.
asymmetric, recessed opposite banner, 3–4.2 mm, densely pilosulous;
tube 1.8–2.2 mm, with 4–7 blister glands between ribs, lobes ovate.
asymmetric, recessed opposite banner, (2.8–)3.2–5.1 mm, pilosulous;
tube (1.9–)2–3(–3.3) mm, with 3–6 glands between ribs, lobes triangular.
2.4–2.8 mm, pilosulous distally and gland-dotted.
2.2–2.9 mm, villosulous distally and gland-dotted.
1.6–1.9 mm.
1.6–2 mm.
herbs (sometimes overwintering), erect, ± glabrous proximal to inflorescence.
leaves (1–)1.5–3.5 cm;
leaflets (5–)11–17, blades oblong-oblanceolate or obovate, 4–9 mm.
leaves 1–4 cm;
leaflets (13–)17–35(–41), blades oblanceolate to linear-elliptic, (1.5–)2–7(–10) mm.
herbs, erect, ± silky-villosulous.
= 14, 24.
Dalea emarginata
Dalea albiflora
Dalea emarginata was first described under Petalostemon but was rejected from that genus by D. K. Wemple (1970) because of its annual habit. R. C. Barneby (1977c) considered it to be taxonomically isolated within Dalea. Adaxial surfaces of the leaflets often become a remarkable blue-green in drying, a trait observed also in several other daleas that were placed in Petalostemon and in the evidently distantly related yellow-petaled D. nana. In Texas, D. emarginata is known from the southern half of the state, east of the Big Bend region.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Dalea albiflora is a complex and variable species that could use further morphological and cytological studies. While herbarium specimens cannot be sorted into varieties in any consistent way, in the field, delicate plants with slender, creeping rootstocks may grow with, and appear quite distinct from, plants with a stout caudex; such plants have been called D. ordiae. There are few chromosome counts available; preliminary study suggests that the former plants are tetraploid and the latter diploid (D. E. Ward et al. 1993).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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