Searls' prairie clover facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Searls' Prairie clover |
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Dalea
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D. searlsiae
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| Dalea searlsiae (Gray) Barneby
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The Dalea searlsiae, also known as Searls' prairie clover, is a type of perennial plant. This means it lives for more than two years. It belongs to the legume family, like peas and beans. You can find this plant in dry areas of the southwestern United States. It is very good at living where there isn't much water.
Searls' prairie clover works with tiny nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil. This partnership helps make the soil healthier. Its large flowers attract many different pollinators, like bees. Unlike some other legumes, this plant does not have toxins. Because of these helpful traits, people use Searls' prairie clover to help fix and regrow plants in dry rangelands.
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About Searls' Prairie Clover
What's in a Name?
A British plant expert named Rupert Charles Barneby officially named this plant. He studied many unique legume plants in the Americas. The plant was named after Fanny Searls, a 19-year-old botanist. She was the first person to collect a sample of this plant in 1871.
Plant Family and History
Searls' prairie clover is part of the Dalea group, which includes American prairie clovers. These plants are not true clovers, which belong to the Trifolium group. Dalea plants are only found in North and South America. Even though both Dalea and true clovers are in the same big plant family (Fabaceae), they are not closely related.
Scientists use special tests to study how plants are related. These tests show that all Dalea species came from a common ancestor. However, some plants from the Marina group (called false prairie clovers) also fit into this family tree. This means that false prairie clovers are a special branch within the Dalea family.
Where Searls' Prairie Clover Lives
Where It Grows
Searls' prairie clover naturally grows in the southwestern United States. While it's not as common as some other legumes, you can find groups of these plants in southeastern California, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. We don't know much about where it grows south of the US-Mexico border.
Its Home and Growing Needs
You can usually find D. searlsiae in dry desert shrublands and woodlands. It grows well in pine-juniper forests. It is less common in spruce-fir forests. This plant can live in many different types of soil. It grows in clay-rich soils, sandy soils, and rocky areas. However, it doesn't grow as well in very clay-heavy soils. It likes soils that have a lot of lime. Searls' prairie clover grows at high places, from about 1000 to 2800 meters (3,280 to 9,186 feet) above sea level.
What Searls' Prairie Clover Looks Like
Life Cycle and Plant Parts
Like most Dalea plants, Searls' prairie clover is a perennial plant. This is because it has a strong, woody taproot that stays alive underground. In the spring, new stems grow from this taproot. Its leaves are made of smaller parts, usually 5 or 7 leaflets, but sometimes 3 to 11. These leaves fall off in the autumn. Full-grown plants are usually 25 to 60 centimeters (10 to 24 inches) tall.
The plant starts to flower in early spring. By early July, it produces seeds. Its tiny, perfect flowers grow close together in a tall, cylinder shape. Each flower has five stamens. Each seed pod has two tiny ovules, but only one seed grows in each pod.
How Searls' Prairie Clover Changes
Differences in Plants
Searls' prairie clover has 14 chromosomes. This means it is a diploid organism. The way local groups of Searls' prairie clover look can vary a lot. This is due to both changes in their genes and how they are affected by their environment.
Adapting to Its Home
The way Searls' prairie clover plants look changes depending on where they grow. This is because of their genes and the environment. For example, the number of stems on a plant can be from 6 to 23. The number of flower spikes can be from 8 to 46. The average height can be from 21 to 43 centimeters (8 to 17 inches). Scientists have found that some genes can predict how a plant will look. This shows that different groups of Searls' prairie clover have adapted to their specific homes over time.
How Searls' Prairie Clover Interacts with Nature
Most studies on Searls' prairie clover's ecology focus on how it works with other living things. This includes helpful partnerships and how animals eat it.
Working with Bacteria
Like most legumes, Searls' prairie clover forms a special partnership with Rhizobia bacteria. These bacteria help the plant by taking nitrogen from the air and putting it into the soil. This makes the soil richer in nutrients. It also makes the plant a better food source for animals that eat plants.
How It Gets Pollinated
Searls' prairie clover can pollinate itself if there are no pollinators around. However, it prefers to cross-pollinate when it can. Studies show that when it self-pollinates, it makes far fewer seeds, and most of those seeds can't grow. When Searls' prairie clover is present, it helps create a wide variety of pollinators in the ecosystem.
Bees are the main pollinators for D. searlsiae. Scientists have found 22 types of native bees that pollinate this plant. These include potter bees (Anthidium spp.), bumblebees (Bombus spp.), plaster bees (Colletes spp.), and long-horned bees (Eucera and Melissodes spp.). Other important pollinators include different kinds of wasps, flies, and butterflies.
Animals Eating the Plant
Searls' prairie clover is a good food source for plant-eating animals because it doesn't have harmful chemicals. Sheep especially like to eat this plant. Eating Searls' prairie clover gives animals a lot of nutrients, with 17-20% protein. It is also thought to help prevent a problem called "bloating" in animals. However, too much grazing by animals has caused the amount of Searls' prairie clover to decrease.
Surviving Fire
Since it lives in dry areas, Searls' prairie clover has likely developed ways to survive fires. Plants that have their stems burned or damaged can often grow new stems later in the season. Also, this plant has been found growing after controlled fires. This shows it can handle fire.
Plants That Look Similar
A new plant called Dalea janosensis, found in Chihuahua, Mexico, looks a lot like D. searlsiae. Both plants have rose-purple flowers, which can make them hard to tell apart. But D. janosensis is much smaller than D. searlsiae. It also has smaller leaves and leaves that don't fall off.
When it's not flowering, D. searlsiae can be confused with D. cylindriceps, D. ornata, and D. flavescens. However, the color of their flowers can easily tell them apart. Other features are not always reliable because plants can change how they look depending on their environment.
Helping Land Recover
Legume plants are very useful for regrowing plants and restoring land. This is because they work with nitrogen-fixing Rhizobia bacteria. Having legumes and these bacteria helps improve the soil's nutrients. However, it's hard to get enough of these plants for big projects because they are not grown widely. In 2011, scientists suggested using Searls' prairie clover to help fix rangelands in the southwestern USA.
Searls' prairie clover is good for restoration projects in areas that get 152-356mm (6-14 inches) of rain each year. It's recommended because it helps improve soil nutrients and attracts pollinators.
Growing and Planting Seeds
Scientists have found three types of Searls' prairie clover seeds that are used for land restoration. The 'Fanny' seeds come from Nevada and are good for certain coldness zones (USDA plant hardiness zone 5b). The 'Carmel' seeds come from Utah and are good for warmer zones (USDA plant hardiness zone 7a). The 'Bonneville' seeds come from northwestern Utah and are best for that area (USDA plant hardiness zone 6b). It's usually best to use seeds from the local area to help the plants grow well.
The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service made these three types of seeds available. In 2015, researchers collected seeds and checked their genes to make sure they were the right types for future planting.
Before planting, seeds often need special treatment. Letting seeds stay in the ground over winter after planting in the fall works well. Many projects also use a 5-minute soak in strong sulfuric acid to help the seeds sprout better.
This plant can grow well without extra water. But in dry years, giving it 100-200mm (4-8 inches) of water can help it grow more.
Special Properties
Studies have found at least six chemicals in the roots of D. searlsiae that can fight germs. Two of these are known chemicals, and four are new ones. They showed activity against Streptococcus, Bacillus, and Staphylococcus bacteria.
The roots also have two chemicals called rotenoids and one flavanone that can act as strong insecticides. Scientists are still studying how these chemicals help the plant survive and thrive.
See also
In Spanish: Dalea searlsiae para niños
