Flora of North America species comparison

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

short-erect, unbranched or branched, with 2–5 internodes, sometimes with decumbent lateral stems to 22 cm, strigose to ascending-hairy, leaves appearing clustered basally or on tips of some lateral stems, or dispersed along more elongated stems;

pseudoscapes to 4.5 cm;

cataphylls to 15 mm.

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.

palmately 5(–8)-foliolate;

stipules persistent, lanceolate to slightly elliptic, 5–11 × 2.5–4.5 mm, pubescent;

petiole jointed basally, 50–80(–100) mm;

petiolules 0.5–2 mm;

leaflet blades obovate to oblanceolate or ± rhombic, 1.5–2.5(–4) × 1.2–2.5 cm, base cuneate or attenuate, apex broadly acute to rounded, surfaces bicolor, abaxially glandular, cinereous, adaxially bright green, glabrous or sparsely strigose only along base of veins.

3–51-flowered, axillary, pseudoracemes;

bracts present.

disjointing in age at peduncle base, subglobose to elongate;

rachis 1.4–4 cm, elongating in fruit, nodes 4–9, (1–)3(or 4) flowers per node, internodes relatively short or to 10 mm;

bracts persistent to tardily deciduous, ovate to broadly lanceolate, 13–18(–22) × 6–10 mm, apex caudate, pubescent.

1.4–5 cm, shorter than subtending petiole, pubescent with erect-ascending hairs.

2–4 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.

14–19 mm;

calyx gibbous-campanulate in fruit, (10–)11–16(–18) mm abaxially, (9–)10–15(–16) mm adaxially, tube glandular, pubescent;

tube 5–6(–8) mm;

lobes linear-lanceolate to elliptic, abaxial 6.5–10 × 2–3 mm, adaxial 6–9 × 1–1.5 mm, glandular or eglandular;

corolla purple, banner sometimes paler, oblanceolate, 14–19 × 5–7 mm with claw 6–9 mm, wings 9–18 × 2–3 mm with claw 6–9 mm, keel (10–)12–16 × 2–3 mm with claw 7–9 mm;

filaments 11–16 mm;

anthers elliptic, 0.3 mm;

ovary pubescent or only apically, style 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.

ovoid, 6–9 × 4–4.5 mm, eglandular, pubescent, beak 5–8 mm, ± equal to calyx.

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

hilum usually not surrounded by raised, white ridge.

brown, reniform, 4–5 × 3 mm, shiny.

= 11.