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  Cornaceae : Cornus sericea

  R. Neil Reese

  Cornus sericea is a perennial branching stoloniferous, thicket-forming shrub, growing to 3 m in height. The stems have reddish bark, young branches with short, stiff hairs and older branches smooth. The simple, opposite, petiolate leaves are oblong-lanceolate to ovate, 3–15 cm long, 2-5-5.5 cm wide, with a pointed tip and with 5-7 pairs of prominent pennate veins that are curved toward the tip. The upper surface is green with a few hairs and the lower surface paler. When pulled apart, the veins produce white web-like strands. The inflorescences are flat-topped compound cymes, 3–10 cm across. The sepals are minute, the 4 white to cream colored petals are 2-4 mm long, attached to a disk, the ovary inferior and the stamens as long or longer than the petals. The fruit is a 1-2 seeded drupe, 6-9 mm in diameter. Red osier dogwood blooms from May through July along stream banks, lakeshores and in swampy wet places throughout South Dakota.

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  Cucurbitaceae: Echinocystis lobata

  R. Neil Reese

  Echinocystis lobata is an annual, fast-growing, climbing vine from a fibrous root system that can reach lengths over 6 meters, with tendrils that help it climb shrubs and fences. Stems are slender, green to reddish, and covered with fine hairs and small prickles. Leaves are alternate, palmately lobed with 5–7 deeply cut lobes, 8 to 18 cm long and wide, broadly ovate with coarsely toothed margins and a rough, hairy texture. The petioles are about 6 to 15 centimeters long. Flowering occurs from June to September, producing small, white to pale greenish flowers in leaf axils. Flowers are unisexual and monoecious, with male flowers in open clusters and female flowers solitary or few. Each flower has five greenish-white sepals about 5 to 8 millimeters long and no true petals; instead, the sepal lobes form petal-like structures. Male flowers have numerous stamens fused into a column with anthers around 1 to 2 millimeters long. Female flowers have a single superior ovary with three styles ending in clustered stigmas. The fruit is a spiny, inflated capsule about 4 to 6 centimeters long and 3 to 5 centimeters wide, covered with hooked prickles, maturing in late summer to early fall and splitting open to release numerous seeds. Wild cucumber is native to South Dakota and is commonly found in moist woods, riverbanks, thickets, and edge habitats statewide.

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  Cupressaceae: Juniperus communis

  R Neil Reese

  Juniperus communis is a low, spreading evergreen shrub, growing to 1.5 m high, often forming clumps. The young twigs are yellowish and 3-angled and older stems becoming grayish and finally reddish brown with shredding papery bark. The leaves are needle-shaped, waxy, 10-18 mm long, up to 1.5 mm wide, in whorls of 3 and curved sharply just above the base. The plants are dioecious with axillary, sessile pollen-bearing cones that are and mostly single, 3-5 mm long and 1-2 mm wide being produce on male plants. Female plants produce seed cones that are fleshy, dark blue with a waxy bloom, globose, 5-10 mm in diameter, maturing in the second year and contain 1-3 brown seeds. New cones are pollinated in May and June, usually on wooded hillsides in western South Dakota.

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  Cupressaceae : Juniperus virginiana

  R. Neil Reese

  Juniperus virginiana is a perennial, non-flowering, coniferous evergreen tree with a pyramidal or subcylindrical shaped crown, growing 5–20 m in height. The bark is reddish-brown to gray, fibrous and shredding as it ages. The younger branches are usually red. The adult leaves are green to blue green, tightly adpressed and scale-like, 2–4 mm long, 0.8-1.5 mm wide, arranged in opposite decussate pairs or occasionally whorls of three and overlapping the leaves above. Juvenile leaves are needle shaped, 5–11 mm long and are present on young trees and new branches. Red cedar is usually dioecious with male plants having yellowish-brown, sessile, solitary ovoid cones, 2.5-4 mm long, 1-2 mm in diameter, attached to the ends of branchlets. Female trees produce solitary, berry-like seed cones that are 3–7 mm in diameter, dark purplish-blue with a white waxy covering. These cones mature during the first year and contain 1-3 yellowish seeds. Cones shed pollen and are fertilized in April and May. Eastern red cedar is native to southern South Dakota, being found on pastures, prairie hillsides and disturbed ground. Because of its wide use in shelter belts, it has escaped and is naturalized throughout SD.

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  Cyperaceae: Carex brevior

  R. Neil Reese

  Carex brevior is a perennial sedge in the Cyperaceae family. It grows from a dense, fibrous root system with short rhizomes, sometimes forming small clumps but not extensive sods. The stems (culms) are upright, slender, triangular in cross-section, and usually 30–70 cm tall, smooth or minutely rough below the inflorescence. Leaves are mostly basal, grass-like, flat, and 2–5 mm wide, with sheathing bases and rough margins. Cauline leaves are few, shorter than the culms, and often drooping. Flowering occurs from late spring to early summer (May–July). Inflorescences are terminal, composed of 2–5 short, dense, cylindrical spikes. The terminal spike is usually staminate (male), while the lower spikes are pistillate (female), but sometimes spikes are androgynous. Each spike is 1–3 cm long and 5–7 mm wide. Each pistillate flower is enclosed in a sac-like perigynium, which is green to brown, inflated, and beaked. The perigynia are 3–5 mm long and 1–2 mm wide, with a short, thick beak. The achene (seed) is lens-shaped, brown, and 1.5–2 mm long, maturing in early to midsummer. Shortbeak sedge is native to South Dakota, occurring in dry to mesic prairies, open woodlands, roadsides, and disturbed soils, and is found statewide, especially in upland prairies and open meadows.

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  Cyperaceae: Carex hoodii

  R. Neil Reese

  Carex hoodii is a perennial sedge in the Cyperaceae family. It grows from a dense, fibrous root system with short rhizomes, forming loose tufts or small clumps rather than extensive sods. Stems (culms) are upright, slender, sharply three-angled, and range from 20–60 cm tall, smooth below but often rough near the inflorescence. Leaves are mostly basal, narrow, flat or slightly folded, 1–3 mm wide, and shorter than the culms, with rough margins and tight basal sheaths. Flowering occurs from late spring to mid-summer (May–July). Inflorescences are terminal and consist of 2–4 short, narrow spikes (each 1–2.5 cm long). The terminal spike is commonly staminate (male), while the lower spikes are pistillate (female), though some spikes may be androgynous. Pistillate flowers are enclosed in a sac-like perigynium, which is green to brown, ovoid to ellipsoid, 2.5–4 mm long and 1–1.5 mm wide, with a short, straight beak. The achene (seed) is lens-shaped, brown, and about 1.5 mm long, maturing in early to mid-summer. Hood’s sedge is native to South Dakota, typically found in dry to mesic prairies, open pine woods, rocky slopes, and sandy soils, and is most frequent in the Black Hills, Coteau des Prairies, and northern and western uplands.

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  Cyperaceae: Carex muehlenbergii

  R. Neil Reese

  Carex muehlenbergii is a perennial sedge growing from a fibrous root system with slender, short rhizomes, forming loose tufts but not dense sods. Stems (culms) are upright, sharply three-angled, and range from 20–60 cm tall, usually smooth or sometimes slightly rough near the inflorescence. Leaves are mostly basal, narrow (1–3 mm wide), flat or slightly folded, and shorter than or about equal to the culms, with rough margins and sheathing bases. The ligule is a thin, translucent band about 1 to 2 millimeters high, often acute and sometimes with frayed edges. Flowering occurs from late spring to early summer (May–July). The terminal inflorescence consists of 2–5 short, cylindrical spikes, with the top (terminal) spike usually staminate (male) and lower spikes pistillate (female), though some may be androgynous. Each flower has scale-like bracts subtending small florets. Stamens number three with slender filaments and pollen-bearing anthers; the pistil has a single ovary with one style and two branching stigmas. Pistillate flowers are enclosed in a sac-like perigynium, which is green to brown, ovoid, 2.5–4 mm long and about 1 mm wide, with a short, straight beak. The achene (seed) is lens-shaped, brown, and about 1.5 mm long, maturing in early to midsummer. Sand sedge is native to South Dakota, most commonly found in dry, sandy prairies, open woodlands, sand dunes, and disturbed sandy soils, and is widespread but especially abundant in sandy uplands and the central and western parts of the state.

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  Cyperaceae: Carex praegracilis

  R. Neil Reese

  Carex praegracilis is a perennial sedge in the Cyperaceae family. It grows from a dense, fibrous root system with long, creeping rhizomes, forming loose to dense sods and spreading readily by vegetative means. Stems (culms) are upright, slender, sharply three-angled, usually 20–70 cm tall, and smooth or slightly rough near the inflorescence. Leaves arise mostly from the base, with sheathing leaf bases that are smooth and light brown to tan and may be tinged reddish-brown. Leaf blades are narrow and flat, typically 2 to 4 mm wide often shorter than the culms, with rough margins. The ligule is a short, membranous, translucent structure about 1 to 2 millimeters long, often acute or truncate with smooth or slightly jagged edges, located at the junction of leaf blade and sheath. Flowering occurs from late spring to early summer (May–July). Inflorescences are terminal, composed of 2–5 short, cylindrical spikes, slender, erect, bearing numerous small spikelets clustered at the top of the stems. The species is usually monoecious, with staminate (male) flowers in terminal spikelets and pistillate (female) flowers in lateral or lower spikes, though some may be androgynous. Floral scales subtend florets with three stamens in male flowers and a single ovary with one style (dividing into two stigmas) in female flowers. Pistillate flowers are enclosed in a sac-like perigynium, which is green to brown, 2.5–4 mm long, and about 1 mm wide, with a short, straight beak. The achene (seed) is lenticular, brown, and about 1–1.5 mm long, maturing from early to midsummer. Clustered field sedge is native to South Dakota, commonly found in moist to wet meadows, prairies, roadside ditches, alkaline flats, and disturbed soils. It is distributed statewide but is especially abundant in low, moist sites and along roadsides.

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  Cyperaceae: Cyperus odoratus

  R. Neil Reese

  Cyperus odoratus is an annual or short-lived perennial sedge with a fibrous root system and sometimes tuberous rhizomes, allowing moderate vegetative spread. The erect stems (culms) are slender, triangular in cross-section, and range from 10 to 80 cm tall. Leaves are grass-like, alternate, linear, and smooth to rough, typically 5–30 cm long and 2–5 mm wide, with rough margins and sheathing bases that wrap closely around the stem base. The ligule is short and inconspicuous, often appearing as a small fringe of hairs or a thin membrane. Flowering occurs from summer through fall (June–October). Inflorescences are compound umbels with multiple rays, each bearing clusters of small spikelets. Spikelets are lanceolate to ovate, 2–5 mm long and consist of many brown to purplish-brown flowers covered by overlapping scales. Flowers have three stamens and a pistil with three stigmas. The fruit is a small, lens-shaped achene, about 1–2 mm long, brown at maturity, ripening from late summer into fall. Fragrant flatsedge is native to South Dakota, occurring in wetlands, marshes, ditches, riverbanks, and moist disturbed soils statewide, with higher concentrations in eastern and central regions.

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  Cyperaceae: Eleocharis compressa

  R. Neil Reese

  Eleocharis compressa is an annual to perennial herbaceous sedge from a fibrous root system. Stems (culms) are erect, slender, and usually laterally compressed (flattened) in cross-section, ranging from 10–50 cm tall. Leaves are reduced to narrow sheaths at the base of the stem, with no true leaf blades. The ligule is typically absent or represented by a small membrane or fringe of hairs at the junction of sheath and stem. Flowering occurs from summer to early fall (July–September). The inflorescence consists of a single terminal spikelet about 5–15 mm long, narrow and cylindrical, containing numerous tiny flowers. Each flower is subtended by a scale (a modified bract) about 2–3 mm long, ovate to lanceolate in shape, greenish to brownish in color. Flowers have no petals or sepals but possess three stamens and a single pistil. The fruit is a small, lens-shaped achene, about 1–2 mm long, brown at maturity, ripening late summer into fall. Flat-stem spike-rush is native to South Dakota, commonly occupying wetlands, shallow ponds, marshes, and wet meadows statewide, especially in the eastern and central regions.

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  Elaeagnaceae: Elaeagnus angustifolia

  R Neil Reese

  Elaeagnus angustifolia is a perennial large shrub or small tree growing to 5 m tall. The trunk and mature branches have a scaly gray-brown bark, with young branches being covered with silvery gray hairs. The small branches often end in sharp spines. The alternate, simple, petiolate leaves are covered with silvery scales are star-shaped hairs. The blades are up to 10 cm long and usually less than 18 mm wide. The inflorescence consists of axillary groups of 1 to 3 short-stalked flowers on the young branches. The fragrant flowers are funnel-shaped, ~12 mm long and wide, with 4 spreading, yellow petal-like sepals that are silvery on the outer side. They are fused at the base and form an angled tube about as long as the lobes. There are 4 yellow stamens and a style. The fruit are edible, but mealy drupe-like achenes. Russian olive flower in May and June ad the fruit ripen in August through October. This species was introduced as a windbreak species and has become naturalized throughout the US. Although still planted for game improvement in some states, it is considered an invasive species in South Dakota.

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  Elaeagnaceae : Shepherdia argentea

  R. Neil Reese

  Shepherdia argentea is an erect, perennial, deciduous shrub or small tree, growing 2m to 6m in height and forming thickets by root suckers. Young stems are covered in scaley or stellate hairs giving them a white-mealy appearance, becoming gray with age, and 2–3-year-old twigs often end in spines. The simple leaves are opposite, oblong to oblanceolate, 2-5 cm long, 7-12 mm wide, gray green on both the upper and lower surfaces due to a covering of hairs. The margins are entire, the tip blunt and the blade narrowed at the base with a petiole of 3-6 mm. Buffaloberry is dioecious, the flowers in small clusters on 1 year old twigs. Male flowers have 4 sepals fused to a 8-lobed, shallow disk and have 8 stamens, their filament free. The female flowers have 4 sepals fused to a hairy disk that nearly encloses the pistil. The fruit is an ovoid, drupe-like achene, red, juicy and 5–7 mm long. Buffaloberry blooms in May and June and the fruits remain attached into the fall. They grow throughout South Dakota along streambanks, on hillsides and in ravines.

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  Equisetaceae: Equisetum arvense

  R. Neil Reese

  Equisetum arvense is a perennial, herbaceous vascular plant belonging to the family Equisetaceae. It has a complex root system composed of extensive rhizomes that facilitate vigorous asexual reproduction and spread. The plant produces separate fertile and sterile shoots. Sterile stems are green, photosynthetic, hollow, jointed, and rough-textured due to silica deposits; they are branched or unbranched, typically 30–60 cm tall. Fertile stems appear earlier, are unbranched, pale tan to brownish, and bear spores in cone-like sporangia (strobili) at their tips, 5–10 cm long. Leaves are reduced to small scales fused into sheaths at the stem joints. The plant reproduces via spores rather than seeds. Fertile shoots emerge in early spring, and sterile shoots develop afterward. Spores are produced in spring, and the plant continues vegetative growth throughout the growing season. Field horsetail is native to South Dakota, found in moist to wet habitats such as riverbanks, ditches, wet meadows, and disturbed wetlands, with broad statewide distribution.

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  Equisetaceae : Equisetum hyemale

  R Neil Reese

  Equisetum hyemale is a non-flowering, rhizomatous, evergreen perennial, the stems growing to 2 m in height, generally clustered often forming dense stands. The dark green stems are rigid, rough, hollow, vertically ridged and jointed at each node. The nodes are marked by a whorl of tiny, clasping fused ash gray tooth-like leaves tipped in black and a black band. Teeth are usually shed during the growing season. Sterile and fertile stems are alike in this species, with some stem tips bearing a cone-like fruiting head, 5-25 mm long, which produces numerous minute spherical spores. These sporangia develop from April to October. Scouring rush occurs in wet woods, moist hillsides and peripheries of water bodies in the eastern and western peripheries of South Dakota.

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  Equisetaceae: Equisetum laevigatum

  R. Neil Reese

  Equisetum laevigatum is a perennial, herbaceous vascular plant reproducing primarily via an extensive system of underground rhizomes, allowing vigorous asexual spread. The plant produces green, hollow, jointed, and unbranched sterile stems that are smooth (hence “laevigatum”), typically 30–90 cm tall, with silica deposits giving them a rough texture to the touch. Fertile stems, which are separate, arise in early spring and bear sporangia in cone-like strobili at their tips. Leaves are reduced to small, fused sheaths at stem nodes, and true leaves are absent. Smooth horsetail does not flower but reproduces sexually by spores, produced in fertile cones during early spring. Sterile shoots emerge after the fertile ones and photosynthesize throughout the growing season. Smooth horsetail is native to South Dakota, inhabiting moist to wet areas such as riverbanks, floodplains, wet meadows, and ditches, with distribution statewide, especially in eastern and central regions.

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  Ericaceae : Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

  R. Neil Reese

  Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is a perennial low shrub, with trailing flexible stems which form mats 1-2 m in diameter. The bark is reddish on younger stems and light colored and exfoliating on older stems. The leaves are alternate with a short petiole. The blades are entire, spatulate to obovate, evergreen and 1-3 cm long. The upper surface of the leaves is leathery and shiny. The flowers are arranged in terminal racemes or panicles and are often pendulous. The 5 sepals are 1-1.5 mm long, pink to white and persisting in fruit. The corolla is urceolate, white to pink, 4-8 mm long and the lobes are reflexed. There are 10n stamens that are shorter than the petals and a the ovary is 5-celled. The fruit is a fleshy drupe, red, 4-10 mm in diameter containing 5 boney 1-seeded nutlets, Bearberry blooms from May to July and grows in wooded areas on rocky to sandy sights in western South Dakota. This species is commonly found on much of the norther and mountainous regions of North America.

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  Euphorbiaceae : Euphorbia marginata

  R. Neil Reese

  Euphorbia marginata in an annual herb with white milky sap, erect stems, and growing 20–70 cm tall. The stems are unbranched below inflorescence. The simple, sessile leaves are alternate, ovate to elliptical, 3–8 cm long, with entire margins and a pointed tip. They are a medium green in spring. The upper leaves and bracts gradually develop showy white to pinkish edging. There is a whorl of leaves at the base of the terminal umbel-like inflorescence. The unisex flowers are contained in a cup-like involucre (cyathium), 3–4 mm long with 4-5 white lobes, borne singly at the end of the inflorescence branches. Each cyathia has 1 pistilate flower and 35-60 staminate flowers. The fruit is a hairy capsule 4-6 mm long. Snow on the mountain blooms from June to October on prairies, pastures, roadsides and waste places, usually on calcareous soils, throughout South Dakota.

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  Fabaceae: Amorpha canescens

  R. Neil Reese

  Amorpha canescens is a small perennial deciduous shrub or subshrub, which grows 30 cm to 1.2 m in height from a deep, rhizomatous root system. Main stems are brown and woody with the few branching stems being green to gray-white. The grey-green leaves are alternate odd-pinnate and appear leaden due to their dense hairiness Leaves contain 29-41 leaflets, are subsessile with the petiole 0.5-1.0 mm long. The rachis is 8-13 cm long, the petiole and rachis densely are pubescent with short whitish to gray woolly hairs. Leaflets are 9-17 mm long and 4-8 mm wide, ovate-oblong to elliptical. The margins are entire. The flowers bloom from May to August and have a 5-lobed fused calyx 1.5-2.0 mm long, with free lobes 1.5-2.0 mm long. Corollas are not papilionaceous, forming a bluish-purple tube that is 4-5 mm long and 2.0-2.5 mm wide. Ten stamens are exserted from the tube, the free portion of the filaments 4-5 mm long with bright yellow anthers. The superior ovary is 1.0-1.5 mm long and densely hairy, with the style 2-3 mm long and having a 3-lobed stigma. The fruits are small (3-4mm) modified 1-seeded legumes. This plant can be found growing in well-drained soils of prairies, bluffs, and open woodlands.

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  Fabaceae : Amorpha fruticosa

  R. Neil Reese

  Amorpha fruticosa is a deciduous perennial shrub, which has 1 to several stems growing from 1 m to 3.5 m in height, often branched, forming a bushy top. The alternate, pinnately compound leaves are stipulate (caduceus, narrowly linear 2-4 mm in length) 10 – 30 cm long with 4 – 15 pairs of emarginate leaflets. The inflorescences are solitary to clusters of densely flowered racemes 5-20 cm in length that bloom from June to August. The 5-merous calyx is fused forming a tube 2-3 mm long with broadly rounded to triangular lobes extending about 0.5 mm. The reddish-purple petals form a tube 5-6 mm long that encloses the stamens and pistil. There are 10 stamens 6-8 mm long and united at the base, with bright yellow anthers. The single pistil matures into a legume 5-7 mm by 2-3 mm. False indigo is commonly found along moist stream banks, in the open or in open woods.

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  Fabaceae : Amorpha nana

  R. Neil Reese

  Amorpha nana is deciduous perennial shrub, which grows 30 cm to 60 cm in height. The stems are branched above, often covered with short hairs when young. The alternate, compound odd-pinnate leaves are 3-10 cm long with 3-10 cm long petioles having associated stipules that are 3-5 mm long. The broadly oblong leaflets are arranged in 6-15 pairs with a single terminal leaflet and are 6-13 mm long by 3-6 mm wide. Dwarf indigo flowers are borne in densely flowered terminal racemes, 3-9 cm long. The dark, purple-colored flowers appear from May to June. The sepals form a short turbinate tube 2-3 mm long with 1-2 mm long triangular lobes. The corolla is composed of petals fused into a tube, 5-6 mm long, with a slender claw, and encloses the stamens and pistil. There are 10 stamens fused at the base and a single pistil. The fruit is a legume, 4.5-5.5 mm long by 2-3 mm wide. This species is commonly found on dry prairies and rocky or sandy hillsides.

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  Fabaceae: Amphicarpaea bracteata

  R. Neil Reese

  Amphicarpaea bracteate is a herbaceous annual vine with thin green stems reaching up to 2 m in length, found climbing on forbs, grasses and shrubs or sprawling on open hillsides or stream banks in shaded areas. The trifoliate alternate leaves have petioles that are 2-10 cm long with persistent membranous stipules. The leaflets are thin ovate with an acute apex and 2-10 cm long by 1.8-7 cm wide. Mouse beans produce 2 types of flowers. The above-ground flowers are found in axillary racemes (1.5-9cm long) and bloom in late summer. Each flower is subtended by 2 bracts. The calyx is composed of 5 sepals form a tube of 4-5 mm with 4 deltoid lobes extending 0.5-2 mm. The papilionaceous corolla is white to lilac in color. The stamens are diadelphous and there is a single pistil that forms a legume that is 1.4-5 cm long containing 2-5 seeds. The cleistogamous flowers are produced on creeping branches and lack well developed petals. They produce a single-seeded black pods containing 1 white seed about 1 cm in diameter.

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  Fabaceae : Apios americana

  R. Neil Reese

  Apios americana is a perennial herbaceous vine growing from slender rhizomes that produce tubers that get up 6 cm in diameter. The stems grow to 5 m long and climb or sprawl over shrubs and trees. The compound pinnate leaves are inserted in an alternate pattern, having deciduous stipules that are 5-7 mm long. The leaves usually have 5-7 leaflets that are ovate to lance-ovate and rounded at the base, with petioles that are 1.5-8 cm long. Flowers are organized in racemes that have a short peduncle (2-5 cm long) and are found in the axils of leaves. The calices are tubular with the lower lobe triangular and up to halve as long as the tube. The corolla is papilionaceous 10-14 mm long, with the banner reflexed, whitish dorsally and reddish ventrally. The wings are brown to purple, downcurved, and the keel is reddish brown. There are 10 diadelphous stamens, and the legume is straight to slightly curved 5-50 mm by 4-6 mm.

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  Fabaceae: Astragalus canadensis

  R Neil Reese

  Astragalus canadensis is a rhizomatous perennial herb with erect stems growing 30-120 cm in height. The herbage is sparsely to densely covered in ax-shaped hairs. The alternate, sessile to short petiolate, compound odd-pinnate leaves are 5-35 cm long, with 11 to 35, narrow, elliptic leaflets, 1–4 cm long, with blunt to rounded tips and lanceolate stipules 5–10 mm long. The inflorescence consists of axillary spike-like racemes, 4-20 cm long, with 30 to 100 papilionaceous flowers on a peduncle of 2-10 cm. The calyx tube is 4-7 mm long, with teeth 1-4 mm long. The corolla is greenish white to yellowish white, the banner 11-16 mm long, the wings are 10-14 mm long and the keel is 9-13 mm long and occasionally purple tipped. The wings and keel are narrowed at the base. The fruit are erect legumes, elliptic to cylindric in shape, and 9–15 mm long. Canada milkvetch blooms from May through August in moist prairies, along riverbanks and on open wooded hillsides in much of South Dakota.

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  Fabaceae : Astragalus ceramicus var. filifolius

  R. Neil Reese

  Astragalus ceramicus var. filifolius is a perennial herb from buried, spreading rhizomatous caudex. The solitary stems are lax to ascending, 3-40 cm long with silvery, stiff, appressed hairs. The compound leaves are alternate, odd pinnate, 2–17 cm long, often reduced to just the rachis, with the lower most leaves having 3-5 leaflets, with slender petioles and lanceolate stipules, 2–6 mm long, and often united basally. The inflorescence is comprised of axillary racemes of 2-7 white to light purple, papilionaceous flowers on peduncles of 1.5-7 cm in length. The hairy calyx tube is 2-3 mm long with teeth ~1 mm long. The banner is 6-9 mm long, the wings 6-8 mm long and the keel 6-8 mm long, all of the petals narrowed near the base. The fruit are legumes, each pod has a stipe of 1-3 mm in length, is inflated, red mottled, 3-5 cm long and 1.4-2.6 cm in diameter. Painted milkvetch blooms in June and July in sand dunes and sandy prairies in south central and northwest South Dakota.

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  Fabaceae : Astragalus crassicarpus

  R. Neil Reese

  Astragalus crassicarpus is a perennial, prostrate to suberect herb, 11-60 cm in height, with many hair covered stems growing from a well branched caudex atop of a tap root. The alternate, compound leaves are pinnately dissected, 4-13 cm long, with 13-27 oblanceolate to linear leaflets, 3-17 mm long, 3-6 mm wide, with hairs that make them appear slightly grayish, with lanceolate stipules 3-8 mm long. The inflorescence is composed of axillary racemes of 5-25 bluish, purple or white with purple-tipped papilionaceous flowers on peduncles 2-10 cm long. The calyx tube is 6-9 mm long, with black and/or white stiff appressed hairs and teeth 1-4 mm long. The banner petal is notched, 16-24 mm long, the wings are 16-18 mm long, and the keel is 11-15 mm long and narrowed at the base. The fruit is a red to purple, globose, fleshy legume, 15 -25 mm long, resembling a plum. Ground plum blooms from April to June on prairie hillsides, along stream bank and in open woods throughout South Dakota.