Branches arise from deep-seated tuberous roots; hairy stems; 5 to 8 leaflets per compound leaf; flower clusters of 6 to 24 flowers with white banners and purple to bluish-purple wings and keels, flower and leaf stems arise near the ground level.
Low-growing, nearly stemless, glandular, hairy throughout, from tuberous root; leaves grayish-green; leaflets 5 to 8, wedge-shaped, narrow at base; flower tube >1/4 inch, flowers in short, elongated clusters, large white banner, bluish-purple wings, keel.
Habitat
Mixed desert shrub, grasslands, pinyon-juniper woodland.
Flower Characteristics
Short rounded somewhat elongated clusters of flowers, large white banner petal, purple to bluish-purple (whitish at the base) wing and keel petals; 10 stamens, 9 fused, 1 free; bracts hairy. Flower stalks to 2 inches, emerge near the ground.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaf stalks to 6 inches long, small stipules (leaf-like appendages); leaves of 5 to 8 leaflets, widest above the middle, rounded and/or notched at the tip, tapering at the base; leaf surfaces dotted by tiny glands; lower surfaces hairy, lower less hairy.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Fruit barely surpasses the sepals.