General: Searls' Prairieclover (Dalea searlsiae) is an upright herbaceous forb with compound leaves and odd clusters of purple flowers held on the ends of upright stalks.

Searls' Prairieclover is an uncommon component of vegetation communities in dry, well-drained sandy and gravelly areas on bajadas and moderate slopes in the lower mountains in the Upper Sonora (Creosote-Bursage Flats) and Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zones.

Family: Legume (Fabaceae).

Other Names: Prairie Clover, Prairie-clover, Petalostemon searlsiae.

Plant Form: Several upright and spreading stems emerging from a central point.

Height: To about 1-1/2 feet.

Stems: Unbranched.

Leaves: Compound pinnate with long leaflets.

Flowers: Blooms late spring and early summer. Inflorescence: spike. Flowers: many small purple flowers compacted into a dense cluster; stamens yellow.

Seeds:

Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on flats, in and along washes, on bajadas, and on moderate slopes in the lower mountains.

Elevation: About 4,000 to 6,500 feet.

Distribution: California to Utah and Arizona.

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