United States Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service		 Texas Go to Accessibility Information
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Pussyfoot

Scientific Name: Dalea obovata (Torr. & Gray) Shinners syn. Petalostemum obovatum
Common Name: Pussyfoot

Morphological Characteristics:

Habit- native perennial legume reaching to 30 to 50 centimeters tall; flowers April to October; reproduces by seed
Leaves- pinnate with 7 to 9 leaflets 8 to 20 millimeters long; silky-villous
Flowers – in thick spikes, petals up to 7 millimeters long, white to creamy
Fruit- single seeded pod
Other- crushed green leaves have a strong odor; leaves very soft due to dense hairs
Habitat and Range: occurs in the sandy prairies of South Texas, north to Travis and Colorado Counties.

Conservation Use:

Why collect this plant? Texas Plant Materials Centers have identified this plant as having potential benefits to the following conservation practice standards: 512 Pasture & Hayland Planting, 645 Upland Wildlife Habitat Management; and 550 Range Planting. Your assistance in collecting this plant helps support the NRCS conservation practice standards which are employed daily to conserve the natural resources of Texas!

Centers Requesting Seed:

E. Kika de la Garza Plant Materials Center

How to Collect Seed

  1. Identify native plant stands in your area. You can go to the following websites for helpful photos http://plants.usda.gov or http://www.noble.org/imagegallery/index.html or www.wildflower.org.
  2. Determine if seed is mature. Mature seed is typically dry and will easily separate from the seed head.
  3. Hand strip mature seed by grasping the bottom of the seed head then gently pulling away from the base of the plant. Deposit seed in a brown paper sack. Collect seed from a minimum of 30 to 50 plants.
  4. Label each collection as it is made so collections do not get mixed up. Information required includes:  Collector’s name, number of plants collected, location (parish, city, highway, GPS coordinates), site description (soil type, slope, plants growing in association).
  5. Complete NRCS-ECS-580; Plant Collection Information Form and mail with collected seeds to the NRCS Plant Material Center requesting the species.

E. Kika de la Garza Plant Materials Center
3409 N FM 1355
Kingsville, TX 78363

Helpful Tips

Look for superior plants that display differences in color, height, or forage abundance and record observations. Differences in growing site or location should be made into separate collections if they are separated by more than 1 mile between sites.

Photos:

Pussyfoot
pussyfoot flower pussyfoot plant

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NRCS Species for 2007 Plant Collections - Pussyfoot (PDF; 288 KB)