Distribution

The plant is native to the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

, and desert

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

in adjacent mountains. It is found in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, northeastern

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, western

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, and southern

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. It grows on desert flats and in washes, under in elevation.

Description

''Dalea mollissima'' is a small, mat-forming annual or perennial herbaceous plant . Its leaves are made up of several pairs of oval-shaped fuzz-covered leaflets. The foliage is similar to ''

Dalea mollis ''Dalea mollis'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family which is known by the common name hairy prairie clover. Distribution This wildflower is native to the deserts of California, Arizona, and Northwestern Mexico. It is a common ...

'', but is covered with thinner, downier hairs. It bears fluffy

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s of pea-like flowers in white or lavender. Its bloom period is March to May. The fruit is a single-seeded legume pod.

References

External links

Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Dalea mollissima''USDA Plants Profile for ''Dalea mollissima'' (soft prairie clover)UC Photos gallery — ''Dalea mollissima''
mollissima Flora of the California desert regions Flora of Arizona Flora of Baja California Flora of Nevada Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Natural history of the Colorado Desert Natural history of the Mojave Desert Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Faboideae-stub