Numerous silky, woolly stems from a woody base reach 4 inches high with hairy foliage and spikes of small, yellow, pea-like flowers. Note the low-growing habit, hairy leaves with 3 leaflets, and dense, hairy spike of flowers.

FLOWER: April–July. Densely hairy spikes (15–60 mm) 1/2–2 1/2-inches long are packed with yellow flowers, often purple tinged and fading reddish-brown with age. Each pea-like flower is 3/8–3/4-inch long (1–2 cm) with an upper banner petal, 2 smaller lateral wing petals, and a boat-shaped keel petal containing the style and stamens. Fruit is a small, hairy pod with 1–2 seeds.

LEAVES: Alternate, compound with oval to wedge-shaped 3 leaflets, 5/16–9/16-inch long (8-15 mm); surfaces covered with white hairs; without glands.

HABITAT: Dry, sandy, caliche soils of hills, plains, deserts; desert scrub and grasslands, short-grass prairies, pinyon-juniper woodlands.

ELEVATION: 3,200–6,500 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CO, KS, NM, OK, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: About 30 species of Dalea in NM, some woody or shrubby. Other yellow-flowering species include Dwarf Prairie-Clover, D. nana, in the eastern plains, has 5–7 leaflets. Golden Dalea, D. aurea, in eastern plains, grows upright 1–2 1/2 feet tall and the underside of leaves are dotted with minute glands. Wright’s Prairie-Clover, D. wrightii, in the southern half of NM, has 4-inch tall, densely silky, leafy stems and leaves with 5–7 leaflets with pointed tips. The prostrate Downy Prairie-Clover, D. neomexicana, in southern NM, has 7–11 oval, densely-hairy leaflets with slightly scallop-toothed margins.

NM COUNTIES: Widespread throughout NM except Four Corners area in low- to mid-elevation, dry habitats: Recorded in all counties except McKinley, San Juan.