Dalea leporina
fox-tail prairie-clover, foxtail dalea, hare's-foot dalea
(1.5–)2.5–10(–15) dm, ± sparsely glandular-verruculose distally.
spikes, relatively densely flowered, not involucrate, 8–12(–15) mm diam.;
axis usually not visible, (0.8–)1.5–7(–10) cm;
bracts deciduous by anthesis, 2.5–7 mm.
(1.5–)3–12(–15) cm.
9 or 10, 5–6.8 mm, filaments distinct to 0.6–1 mm, anthers 0.2–0.4 mm.
white to purple or blue;
not conventionally papilionaceous;
banner (3.4–)4.4–6 mm, blade ovate to oblong-elliptic, (1.7–)2–3.7 × 1.2–2.4 mm; epistemonous petals attached near or distal to middle of stamen tube, blades (1.3–)1.6–2.4 × (0.4–)0.5–1 mm, laterals often slightly narrower than abaxials.
asymmetric, recessed opposite banner, 3–5.2 mm, sparsely to densely pilose or pilosulous;
tube (1.7–)2–2.5(–2.8) mm, with (1 or)2 irregular rows of 2–6 small glands between ribs, sometimes merging into fewer, larger glands, lobes ovate-triangular to lanceolate-acuminate.
1.4–3 mm, pilosulous distally and, sometimes, glandular-punctate.
1.7–2.4 mm.
herbs, erect, glabrous proximal to inflorescences.
leaves 2–9.5 cm;
leaflets (17–)21–35(–49), blades oblanceolate to obovate, (2–)3–12 mm.
= 14.
Dalea leporina
Dalea leporina has the broadest range of any member of Dalea, from the interior of the United States and Mexico to Costa Rica, and is disjunct in the Andes Mountains of South America. It varies in some characters, most of which were regarded by R. C. Barneby (1977c) as trivial or not taxonomically useful. It has been found on occasion as a weed far east of its range, for example, in Massachusetts (D. E. Snyder 1950).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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