Hairy Prairie Clover
Dalea mollis
Observed at a roadside near the Muggin's Mountains, Yuma Co., Arizona on January 2010.
FLOWERS: The very small, pale lavender to purple flowers are borne in
many-flowered, hairy, plume-like spikes.
HERB: Usually a low-growing, mat-forming herb. Vegetative growth remains
close to the soil boundary layer. Growth and flowering spring to early summer.
FRUIT: One small seed inside a very small pod.
LEAVES: Compound leaves with usu. about 10 small leaflets. Under good
magnification small glands are visible and the crushed folliage is pungent.
RANGE: Found in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and California and also
Mexico.
UNARMED