Dalea villosa var. grisea

Rupert C. Barneby

45b. Dalea villosa (Nuttall) Sprengel var. grisea (Torrey & Gray) Barneby

(Plate XLVI)

Characters as in key.— Collections: 16 (o).

Openings in woodland, prairie, and abandoned fields, in deep sandy soil, on the Sabine, Trinity and lower Brazos rivers in s.-e. Texas, s. to Houston, n. to Wood and Upshur counties, thence e. to Bienville Parish in n.-w. Louisiana; cf. Wemple, 1970, map 9.—Flowering May and June.—Representative: Texas: Reverchon 1949 (NY); B. L. Turner 3892 (WIS); Wemple 434 (NY); Lundell 9424 (TEX). Louisiana: Dormon s. n. in 1930 (NY).

Dalea villosa (Nuttall) Sprengel var. grisea (Torrey & Gray) Barneby, comb. nov., based on Petalostemon griseum (gray, of the leaves) T. & G., Fl. N. Amer. 1: 310. 1838.— "Pine-woods near the Sabine River, Dr. Leavenworth! Texas, Drummond!!" — Lectotypus (Wemple, 1970, p. 58), collected by Leavenworth "2 miles from the Sabine, in Texas", NY (herb. Torr.)! paratypi, Drummond 83, Coll. III, NY, W! — Kuhniastera grisea (T. & G.) O. Kze., Rev. Gen. 192. 1891. Dalea grisea (T. & G.) Shinners, Field & Lab. 17: 84. 1949.

Distinguished from var. villosa by the taller, more erect stature and thinner vesture, revealing the reddish epidermis of the stem and the greenish surface of the mostly larger leaflets. Differences in shape of the banner blade, mentioned by Wemple, are not consistent. Wemple also notes the presence of empty bracts scattered along the peduncle below the first flower, but these occur occasionally in var. villosa.

References: [Article] Barneby, Rupert C. 1977. Daleae Imagines, an illustrated revision of Errazurizia Philippi, Psorothamnus Rydberg, Marine Liebmann, and Dalea Lucanus emen. Barneby, including all species of Leguminosae tribe Amorpheae Borissova ever referred to Dalea. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 27: 1-892.

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