Fabaceae : Dalea aurea

Dalea aurea is a perennial herb with 1 to several erect stems coming from a woody caudex atop a taproot and growing 20-75 cm in height. The stems are simple or branched above and covered with silky hairs. The petiolate leaves are alternate, compound odd-pinnate, blades 1-4 cm long, with 5-7 oblanceolate leaflets, 4-16 mm long. The leaves are largest toward the stem base and are reduced above. The inflorescence consists of silky-haired, many flowered, terminal cone-like spikes on the main stem and branches, becoming oblong-cylindrical, 1.5-7 cm long. The calyx tube is 2-3 mm long, with teeth 3.5-5 mm long and is densely covered with silky hairs. The corolla is papilionaceous, yellow, with all of the petals clawed (narrowed at the base). The petals above the claws measure as follows: banner 6.5-8.6 mm, wings 5-6 mm, and the keel 5.7-8.5 mm long. The fruit is a one-seeded legume, 3-4 mm long and covered with silky hairs. Golden prairie clover blooms from June into September in prairies, open hillsides, in ravines and in stream valleys in western and southwestern South Dakota.