Fabaceae FAMILY

Dalea villosa

Edibility

0/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial

Growth—

Dalea vilosa is found from the cold prairies of southern Canada, where it can experience months of deep snow, to the warm temperate coastal plain of the southern USA. It is known to thrive in areas where the mean annual rainfall is around 300mm^[1]. Requires a sunny position growing best in deep, well-drained sandy soils but also growing well on silt-loam soils^[1]. It is almost only found on sandy soils in the wild^[2]. Established plants are drought tolerant^[1]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria; these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby^[3].

Propagation

Seed - sow in early spring in a greenhouse. The seed has a hard seedcoat and benefits from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer^[4]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Dalea+villosa>

Pollinators

Insects

References

[1]Plants Database — United States Department of Agriculture · http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet ↩︎An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
[2]Daleae Imagines; An Illustrated Revision of ERRAZURIZIA Philippi, PSOROTHAMNUS Rydberg, MARINA Liebmann, and DALEA L — Barneby R.C. · The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York · 1977 · ISBN 0-89327-001-6 ↩︎A very detailed treatment of the genera Errazurizia, Psorothamnus, Marina and Dalea
[3]Nodulation Plants in GRIN Taxonomy — United States Department of Agriculture · http://www.ars-grin.gov/~sbmljw/cgi-bin/taxnodul.pl?language=en ↩︎An online database listing plants that have either positive or negative reports on root and stem nodulation with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
[4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[5]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.