Climbing or sprawling perennial; leaflets are leathery in 3 to 4 pairs; purple flowers with whitish wings. Flowers and leaves are much larger than Vicia Americana which also have purple pea-shaped flowers.
Grows close to ground forming tangled clusters of leaf stalks and flower stems; leaf stalks have 6 to 8 narrow leaflets; pea-like flowers have a 2-lobed purple petal at the top (the banner), and a whitish hooded center of smaller petals (the wings).
Habitat
Open, dry pinyon woodlands or ponderosa pine forests.
Flower Characteristics
Purple with whitish wings, 1 inch across in clusters of 2 to 5; sepals 1/2 to 3/4 inch long; bracts very small or absent; mostly in leaf axils.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Tall stems; 6 to 8 leaflets (pairs of 2), narrow to oval-shaped; up to 2-1/2 inches long; sepals shorter than the flower tube.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Legume; long, straight and striped; 3 to 10 seeded.
Oval to rounded; smooth.