Thermopsis rhombifolia (Golden Bean) - photos and description
15 cm ruler
General: Plants strongly rhizomatous, stems ascending to erect. Stems, leaf undersides, and calyx all pubescent. Often found in large colonies, when in bloom they can create a blaze of yellow on the prairie.
Flowers: Bright yellow flowers in a dense raceme, flowers measured at 1.5 cm diameter and 2 cm long. Flowers have a light scent.
Leaves: Alternate, trifoliate, the leaflets oblanceolate to obovate, we measured a leaflet at 4 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. Leaves with a pair of ovate stipules. Leaves ciliate, leaf undersides pubescent, leaf tops glabrous.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 50 cm, we measured plants to 27 cm tall.
Habitat: Grassland, hillsides and patchy woodland.
Abundance: Common.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: Took the above photos May 5th and May 13th in the Qu'Appelle valley about 30 km north of Regina, SK, May 15th in a prairie coulee about 100 km south of Regina, SK, and May 25th in the Qu'Appelle Valley about 80 km west of our home in Regina, SK.