Flora of North America species comparison

erect to ascending, decumbent, prostrate, or absent, glabrous or pubescent.

short-erect, sometimes with proximal, decumbent lateral stems to 25 cm, unbranched or sparsely branched, leaves appearing clustered at base or alternate along short stem, with clusters of leaves or inflorescences distally;

pseudoscapes to 10(–14) cm;

cataphylls 5–20 mm, glabrous or strigose.

clustered or alternate, usually palmate, pseudopalmate, or pinnately 3-foliolate (rarely phylloidal in P. rhombifolium), glandular or eglandular;

stipules present;

petiolate or sessile;

stipels absent;

leaflets (1–)3–7(or 8), blade margins entire, surfaces glabrous or pubescent.

usually palmately, rarely pseudopalmately, (3–)5 or 6-foliolate;

stipules persistent, triangular or lanceolate to narrowly oblong, 5–13.5 × 2–5 mm, pubescent;

petiole slightly enlarged and jointed basally, slightly canaliculate, (30–)65–150 mm;

petiolules 1.5–2.5 mm;

leaflet blades oblanceolate or orbiculate to elliptic, (1.5–)2–4.5 × (1.5–)2.3–4 cm, base attenuate, apex broadly acute to rounded or retuse, surfaces abaxially gray-green and pubescent, adaxially yellow-green and sparsely pubescent along veins to pubescent, not white-veined.

3–51-flowered, axillary, pseudoracemes;

bracts present.

disjointing in age at peduncle base, ellipsoid to ovoid;

rachis 1.5–1.6 cm, elongating to 2–5.5 cm in fruit, nodes 3–11, 2 or 3 flowers per node;

bracts tardily deciduous or persistent, narrowly elliptic or spatulate to oval, 3.5–8 × 3–7 mm, pubescent.

(1.5–)2.4–7 cm, shorter than subtending petiole, appressed-spreading pubescent.

0–2 mm.

papilionaceous;

calyx campanulate, usually enlarging through fruiting, rarely not enlarging, but flaring backwards and tearing along a lateral sinus (P. tenuiflorum), lobes 5, abaxial often enlarged;

corolla usually purple, blue, violet, or lavender, sometimes white, yellow or ochroleucous, rarely brick red or salmon-pink;

stamens 10, diadelphous;

anthers dorsifixed;

style arched to sharply reflexed.

9–13 mm;

calyx gibbous-campanulate in fruit, 10–12 mm abaxially (elongating to 20 mm in fruit), 9–10.5 mm to adaxial lobe (elongating to 14 mm in fruit), usually eglandular, strigose to setose;

tube 3–4 mm;

abaxial lobe broadly oblanceolate, 4–5 × 4–4.5 mm, often with 3 prominent veins, adaxial lobes linear, 4–5 × 1–1.5 mm;

corolla ochroleucous with purple tinge to purple, banner usually elliptic, 9–13 × 3.5–5 mm with claw 2–4 mm, wings 10–13 × 2 mm with claw 4–4.5 mm, keel 6.5–8 × 2 mm with claw 3–4 mm;

filaments 6–7.5 mm;

anthers elliptic, 0.4 mm;

ovary pubescent apically, style glabrous, sometimes pubescent basally.

legumes, persistent on receptacle (except deciduous in P. tenuiflorum), sessile or short-stipitate, compressed, straight or curved, oblong, ellipsoid to lanceoloid, ovoid, obovoid, or globose, beaked, glabrous or pubescent, dehiscence circumscissile.

ellipsoid to ovoid, 6–8 × 5–6 mm, eglandular, strigose, beak 8–11(–15) mm, equal to or longer than calyx.

1, globose to ellipsoid, oblong, or reniform, usually smooth;

hilum usually not surrounded by raised, white ridge.

gray-green to dark brown, narrowly reniform, 5.5–6 × 3.5–4 mm, rugose, dull.

= 11.