White
Prairie Clover Petalostemum candidum
Description:
White Prairie Clover is a native, warm-season perennial belonging to the Leguminosae, legume, or pea family. It grows to a height of 30 to 60 cm. It’s
drought resistant and has deep branching taproot that can penetrate up to 5
feet into the soil.
Leaf: The leaves are pinnately compound with 5-7 leaflets. The leaflets are linear-lanceolate to oblong up to 3cm long and up to 4 mm wide, larger than those of the purple prairie clover.
Flower: There many small flowers densely arranged in
short spikes. The spikes are 2.5 to 10cm long and up to 6 mm thick. Each of the
white flowers has four petals which are similar and one which is different in size
and shape.
Blooming months: June and July
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Discussion:
Native Americans brewed a tea from the leaves and used the raw roots as
food. The White Prairie Clover is palatable to grazing animals and decreases when
the prairie is grazed.
Distribution: This species thrives in
all types of prairies. The range of the White Prairie Clover is from
Native
or Introduced to
Location:
N41048.677’ W089040.972’
Copyright:
© 2004 Nancy Trainor,
References:
Keller, Carolyn. Prairie Plants of
Ladd, Doug. Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers, The Nature Conservancy, 1995.
Peterson, Roger Tory. Wildflowers Northeastern/North Central
Mohlenbroch, Robert H., and John W. Voigt. Prairie
Plants of
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