With numerous prostrate stems 6–14-inches long sprawling across loose sand, this densely-woolly plant seldom tops 6-inches high, but in the summer is covered with showy 3/4–3-inch long spikes of brilliant purple flowers. Note the flowers have 10 white stamens tipped with yellow anthers that extend well beyond petals.

FLOWERS: June–September. Small purple to rose-pink, pea-like flowers 1/4-inch long (7 mm) have 5 petals with 1 upper banner petal, 2 side wing petals, 2 united keel petals.

LEAVES: Alternate. Blade odd-pinnate with 5–15 oval leaflets along midrib with rounded tips, 1/4–1/2 inch long (5–12 mm), densely woolly, dotted with glands, resinous scented.

HABITAT: Loose sand, gravelly soils, prairies, roadsides; desert grasslands, mesquite-creosote, blackbrush scrub.

ELEVATION: 3,200–8,500 feet.

RANGE: AZ, AR, CO, KS, NV, NM, OK, TX, UT.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Dalea lanata has two varieties: var. lanata with woolly sepals (calyx) and var. terminalis (D. glaberrima) with hairless sepals. The prostrate stems, woolly leaves, and flower features distinguish this plant from the 25+ prairie-clovers in NM. La Jolla Prairie-Clover, D. scariosa, in central NM has a spike of pink to purple flowers with 5 stamens, and bright green, not woolly, leaves.

NM COUNTIES: Widespread in se NM. Bernalillo, Chaves, Cibola, Curry, De Baca, Dona Ana, Eddy, Guadalupe, Harding, Lea, Lincoln, Luna, McKinley, Otero, Quay, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, San Juan, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Valencia.