Dalea purpurea [Purple Prairie-Clover]

[dancingcat]

Frary, S.C. (2022) Dalea purpurea (Vent.) (Fabaceae) Purple Prairie-Clover.  Photographed in ultraviolet and visible light.

 

Collected:  27 May 2022 at Mockingbird Nature Park, Midlothian, Texas USA.  Voucher deposition: Botanical Research Institute of Texas Herbarium (BRIT) S. C. Frary [146].

 

Synonyms:  Dalea violacea, Kuhnistera violacea, Petalostemon violaceum, P. pubescens, P. purpureum, P. standleyanus, Psoralea purpurea.

 

Comment:
Widespread in the US and Canadian prairies; native to Texas and north through the Great Plains to southern Canada.  Adapted to habitats with periodic wildfires.  The plant has a long taproot and is used to prevent erosion in the restoration of damaged prairie ecosystems.

 

Reference:
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Database, University of Texas at Austin.

Equipment: [Olympus EM1mk2-broadband + Olympus 30mm f/3.5 macro]
 
Visible Light: [f/5.6, iso 640, 0.8”, Kolari Vision UV/IR Cut HotMirror Pro 2 filter, ambient indoor light, 15 images stacked in ZereneStacker (pMax)]

 

Ultraviolet Light: [f/11, iso 640, 6”, BaaderU filter, Adaptalux UV LED arm 2x, 15 images stacked in ZereneStacker (pMax)]

 

[colinbm]

You find some lovely flowers.

[dancingcat]

ty @colinbm  Most of our native tallgrass prairies in the central USA are gone now, either plowed or paved over.  But we do have remnants of native prairie grasslands protected by various conservation organizations, where we get fabulous displays of wildflowers every spring.  My family's land also has some pasture land that's never been plowed, just used for horses, so that's a source of good flowers too.  In the 1800s when most of the prairie flowers were described by botanists, it must have been spectacular.