BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Dalea purpurea | Purple Prairie Clover 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Purple prairie clover is a perennial forb 8 to 35 inches (20-90 cm)
tall.  Usually there are one to three branches per stem, but sometimes
10 to 12 branches may arise from a single stem.  The mature purple
prairie clover develops a strong taproot 5.5 to 6.5 feet (1.7-2.0 m)
deep.  The taproot gives rise to several minutely branched lateral
roots.  The fruit is a one-seeded pod enclosed in bracts [1,5,14,28].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Purple prairie clover reproduces by seed [7,15].  Good seed crops are
produced about every 2 years, with some seeds produced every year [3].
Bjugstad and Whitman [3] reported that a temperature of 41 degrees
Fahrenheit (5 deg C) is required to break seed dormancy.

Documentation of this species' ability to sprout is scant.  Nuzzo [22],
however, reports that purple prairie clover seedlings that appeared dead
due to water loss sent up new shoots within a few weeks when watered
heavily.



SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Purple prairie clover grows on a variety of sites including dry plains,
prairies, hillsides, open woodlands, shaded ravines, and roadsides.  It
occurs on mesic sites in mixed and tallgrass prairies of the northern
and central Great Plains and the shortgrass prairie of the southern
Great Plains [4,14,23].  Where mean annual precipitation is less than 15
inches (380 mm) purple prairie clover occurs infrequently.  It develops
best where mean annual precipitation is 15 inches or more [33].

Some common associates of purple prairie clover include prairie gentian
(Gentiana puberula), prairie compass plant (Silphium laciniatum),
leadplant (Amorpha canescens), pitcher sage (Salvia azurea), blue false
indigio (Baptisia minor), tall gray feather (Liatris scariosa), and
yellow swetclover (Melilotus officinalis).  Associated grasses include
little bluestem (Schizachynum scoparium) switch grass (Pancium
virgatum), Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), and big bluestem
(Andropogon geradii) [16,36].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Obligate Climax Species 

Purple prairie clover is part of the mixed prairie climax vegetation of
several grassland communities [39].  It is moderately shade tolerant but
can also grow on recently disturbed open areas [27,34].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Purple prairie clover begins vegetative growth at the same time as
prairie grasses early in the spring, but purple prairie clover soon
exceeds the grasses in height [37,38].  Purple prairie clover begins to
flower in late May to July when the plant is about 2 feet (60 cm) high.
Seeds mature in July and August [17,18,36].

Related categories for Species: Dalea purpurea | Purple Prairie Clover