Branching, sprawling stems reach 4–8 inches tall (10–20 cm) with densely hairy spikes of small, whitish-yellow to pink-tinged flowers. Note the compound leaves have small, silky-hairy leaflets with scallop-toothed edges.

FLOWER: Nearly year round. Densely hairy, compact spikes 3/8–2 3/8 inches long (1-6 cm) at the tip of a sprawling, upturned branches; several pea-like flowers bloom at a time from the bottom up; 5 petals with 1 upper banner and 2 side wings usually whitish-yellow, 2 united petals as the keel, often tinged pinkish-purple; fruit is a hairy pod with 1–2 seeds.

LEAVES: Alternate. Leaves pinnately compound with 7–15 small leaflets along midrib. Leaflets oval, 1/8–5/16 inch long (3–8 mm), surfaces gray-green, hairy on both sides, often creased down the middle; margins lined with rounded, scalloped teeth. Note the small, dark glands near the edges (use lens).

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly soils, plains, roadsides; desert grasslands and scrub.

ELEVATION: 4,200–5,300 feet.

RANGE: AZ, NM, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Wright’s Prairie-Clover, D. wrightii, in much the same habitat, has 5–7 hairy leaflets 3/16–5/8 inch long (5–15 mm), with smooth margins and without glands. The widespread sprawling Dwarf Prairie-Clover, D. nana, has 5–7 oval hairy leaflets, 1/4–5/8-inch (5–15 mm) long, creased down the middle, with rounded tips and smooth margins, and surfaces without glands.

NM COUNTIES: Southern NM in low-elevation, dry habitats: Chaves, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, Sierra, Socorro.