This native perennial usually has several slender, erect 1-3 foot stems (D). The alternate leaves are divided into 3-9 (most often 5) narrow leaflets up to 1inch long and 1/8th inch wide (C). Flowers occur in dense cylindrical spikes 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches long at the tops of the stems and branches (A). Individual flowers are tiny, but the densely packed rose to red-violet flowers with their protruding yellow stamens produce an impressive and changing display as the ring of encircling blossoms proceeds from base to tip of the column (B).
Grows on dry to moist prairie sites, flowering in June and July. At Neale Woods, it is common in all prairie restorations (D). In Fontenelle Forest, it is uncommon in the Garden planting next to the Wetlands Learning Center and in the Floodplain Prairie restoration east of the observation blind.
This is a distinctive plant with rose to red-violet flowers with yellow stamens not likely to be confused with any other when in flower. When not flowering it looks very much like White Prairie Clover (Dalea candida). Look for the leafier stems and narrower leaflets of Purple Prairie Clover.
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