Common Name: Purple Prairie Clover

Latin Name: Dalea purpurea

Height: 2 feet tall

Duration: Perennial

Bloom Color: Purple

Bloom Time: July - September

Water Use: Low

Soil: Medium, Medium-Dry, Dry

Light Requirement: Full Sun, Partial Shade

Spreads via seeds

Host plant for the Dogface Sulphur butterfly caterpillar and the Reakirt's Blue butterfly caterpillar.

Pollinators: Honeybees, bumblebees, cuckoo bees, long-horned bees, leafcutter bees, Halictid bees, plasterer bees, Sphecid wasps, Tiphiid wasps, Syrphid flies, bee flies, thick-headed flies, small butterflies, skippers, and beetles.

Other Information:  This plant is very palatable and high in protein, so many herbivores enough browsing on this plant. Seeds do not need stratification. This plant is a legume and harbors a beneficial bacteria called rhizobia on its roots. This bacteria helps fix nitrogen and improve soil fertility.