Silky Dalea - Soft Prairie Clover
Downy Dalea
Dalea mollissima
Color: White to pinkish
Common name: Silky Dalea, soft prairie clover, downy dalea,
Latin name: Dalea mollissima
Family: FABACEAE
Height: 4-12 inch long stems
Description: Diminutive or mat-forming. Flowers are similar to others in the pea family growing on dense 2.5 cm-long spikes. Dark glands on the leaf edges and stems.
Leaf: Leaflets 8–12, 3–10 mm, round to oblong, often folded, shallowly lobed, wavy and covered with soft white hairs.
Range: Desert
Habitat: Desert flats, washes
Elevation: < 900 m.
Flowering time: Mar-Jun
Notes: Photographed February 11, 2006, Jubilee Pass, Death Valley. Calif. A dicot, is a common annual or perennial herb that is native to California and is also found outside of California, but is confined to western North America. Distribution outside California: s Nevada, w Arizona.
Horticulture: Given excellent drainage (modification of compacted or other water-holding soils may be necessary) and full or nearly full sun (tolerates summer afternoon sun), grows especially well in zones 10, 11, 12, and 13.
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
Mojave Desert Wildflowers - This book is the standard by which all other wildflower books are measured. The author, Jon Mark Stewart, has combined super photography with concise information. This book has an entire color page for each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More...
What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports
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The Desert Environment
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