In the Community: What's In Bloom
Purple Prairie-Clover (Petalostemon purpureum)
This member of the Legume family has fine alternate leaves each subdivided into 7-10 small narrow leaflets. The tiny purple flowers bloom in July-September and appear at the base of a densely packed head or spike at the end of the slender stem. Despite its fragile appearance, this plant is an indicator of dry sites and coarse soils, on hillsides and native prairie sites where many other plants cannot exist. This plant is highly nutritious to livestock and wildlife but can cause bloat. Like most legumes the Purple Prairie-Clover fixes nitrogen in the soil and requires special soil mycorrhizae to be able to grow successfully.
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