SafePlants

Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea) and Silky Prairie Clover (Dalea villosa)

This page provides information on both Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea) and Silky Prairie Clover (Dalea villosa), two native prairie plants in the legume family (Fabaceae).

Considerations for Pets

• Both Purple Prairie Clover and Silky Prairie Clover produce protein-rich seeds, which serve as a food source for various animals, including birds and small mammals.
• Silky Prairie Clover has leaves and stems covered in silky hairs.

Nomenclature and Taxonomy

• Scientific Name: Dalea purpurea Vent. (Purple Prairie Clover) and Dalea villosa (Silky Prairie Clover)
• Common Names: Purple Prairie Clover, Silky Prairie Clover, Hairy Prairie-Clover, Violet Prairie Clover, Soft Prairie Clover, Downy Dalea
• Family: Fabaceae (Pea Family)
• Taxonomic Rank: Species (and variety for Silky Prairie Clover: Dalea villosa var. villosa)
• Synonyms: Dalea mollissima (for Silky Dalea)

Distribution and Habitat

• Purple Prairie Clover is native to the Mississippi prairie and occurs in glades, rocky open woods, and prairies. It is most common in western and southern Wisconsin but less common than White Prairie Clover.
• Silky Prairie Clover is found in central and eastern North Dakota and ranges from Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada. It grows in clumps in open, sandy sites. It is also found on dry sandy river terraces and hillside prairies in Minnesota. In Canada, it is nationally rare, growing only in sand dunes in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Morphological Characteristics and Growth Habits

• Purple Prairie Clover is a native, erect, perennial forb with slender stems, usually under 2 feet tall (8 to 35 inches). Stems are usually hairless.
• Silky Prairie Clover is a perennial herb with ascending or lax, branched stems that are 20-35 cm high, sometimes resembling a shrub form. Its leaves are smaller and twice as numerous as those of Purple Prairie Clover. The leaves and stems of Hairy Prairie-clover are covered with a layer of silky hairs, giving it a greyish appearance.
• Both plants have flowers similar to others in the pea family. Silky Prairie Clover produces 1 to 5-inch cylinder spikes of lavender to pink flowers with long yellow-tipped stamens. Its flowers grow on dense 2.5 cm-long spikes. Hairy Prairie-clover has dense spikes of pale purple flowers, 2 to 10 cm long, that top each stem.
• The stems of both species are ascending or loosely spreading, usually branched above, and densely silky. The leaves are alternate, crowded, and short-stalked.

Ecological Role

• Silky Prairie-clover can be found on dry sandy river terraces and hillside prairies, where it is sometimes being invaded.

Interactions with Other Organisms

• Purple Prairie Clover produces protein-rich seed that is a source of food for many birds, deer, antelope, livestock, and small animals.
• Floral visitors of Leafy Prairie Clover are probably similar to the floral visitors of Purple Prairie Clover.
• Silky Prairie Clover is a host plant for the Choristoneura moth and walking stick insects.

Further Information

• USDA NRCS Plant Materials Center, Manhattan, Kansas
• Dave's Garden
• Discover Life
• Minnesota Wildflowers
• The Nature Conservancy's Niobrara Valley Preserve, Nebraska