This distinctive prairie-clover has leafy stems 8–28 (32) inches tall with exceedingly long, hairy spikes of small, white flowers that bloom from the bottom upward. Note the leaves have 7–9 narrow leaflets along the midrib. Also called Large-spike Prairie Clover.

FLOWER: June–August. Densely hairy, elongated, cylindrical spike 1–7 inches long (2.5–18 cm); blooms from bottom upward with ring of small, white flowers with showy yellow anthers; 5 petals, but unlike many other Dalea, the lower petals are not united to form a keel.

LEAVES: Alternate. Leaves pinnately compound, 3/8–2 3/8 inches long(1-6 cm) with 7-9 leaflets per leaf; each leaflet lance-shaped to elliptic-oblong, 3/4 inch long (2 cm), 1/8 inch wide (4 mm); surface gland dotted.

HABITAT: Dry sandy soils; pure sand, dunes, arroyos, roadsides; sandy plains, pinyon-juniper woodlands.

ELEVATION: 4,000–6,500 feet.

RANGE: CO, KS, NE, NM, OK, SD, TX, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The statewide  White Prairie-Clover, D. candida, has much shorter, hairless flower spikes.

NM COUNTIES: Western half and eastern plains of NM in mid-elevation, dry habitats: Bernalillo, Cibola, De Baca, Dona Ana, Harding, Lincoln, Los Alamos, McKinley, Quay, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, San Juan, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos, Torrance.