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Roundheaded Prairie Clover

Scientific Name: Dalea multiflora (Nutt.) Shinners syn. Petalostemon multiflorus
Common Name: Roundheaded Prairie Clover

Morphological Characteristics:

Habit- native warm season perennial forb, erect to spreading stems to 70 centimeters long; flowers May to July; reproduces by seed.
Leaves- alternate, pinnate with leaflets 4 to 15 centimeters long,
Flowers- in heads or short spikes, subglobose, in fruit 8 mm. thick and about 10 millimeters long, petals white
Fruit- single seeded pod
Other- stems and leaves glabrous
Habitat and Range: locally abundant in central Texas, east to Harris and Grimes counties, south to Maverick and Nueces counties, west to Taylor and Crockett counties; in the Coastal Bend occasional on heavier soils in openings or along bluffs, slopes and ravines.

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:

Roundheaded Prairie Clover
roundheaded prairie clover plant roundheaded prairie clover plant roundheaded prairie clover flower roundheaded prairie clover inflorescence roundheaded prairie clover inflorescence roundheaded prairie clover plant roundheaded prairie clover flower roundheaded prairie clover plants
Roundheaded Prairie Clover (continued)
roundheaded prairie clover inflorescence roundheaded prairie clover flower roundheaded prairie clover plant          
 

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NRCS Species for 2006 Plant Collections - Roundheaded Prairie Clover (PDF; 389 KB)