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Trailing wild-bean is a native annual, a sprawling or climbing vine 3-9 feet long found in sandy habitats. The stems are slender, round in section, range from light green to dull reddish, and are quite hairy; they produce occasional branches and can twine around neighboring plants. Leaves are alternate, trifoliate compound, with broadly oval to teardrop shaped leaflets 1-2" long and 1/2-1.25" across, widest at the base with a pointed tip. The terminal leaflet may be slightly larger and has a short stalk (petiolule); the lateral leaflets are sessile. Sometimes the bases of the leaflets have a shallow lobe on each side of the midline. The compound leaf has a 1-2" long, slightly fuzzy petiole. Some leaf axils produce 3-6" long flower stalks (peduncles) with 3-10 nearly stalkless flower buds at the tip, only a few of which are open at any one time. The flowers are 1/3-1/2" across, light pink to creamy pink, pea-like with five petals, but the keel is sharply curled upward such that it almost touches the banner (the vertical petal). The fruit is a bean-like seedpod, 2-3.5" long, sparsely covered with short hairs, initially green but turning dark brown as it matures; the seeds are oblong, black, and are also covered with short hairs.

Strophostyles

Strophostyles helvola

trailing wild-bean [Blooms: Aug-Sep]

The tips of the stems of goat's-rue give rise to 2-3" long racemes of buds and flowers. The unmistakable, bicolored pea-like flowers are about 1/2-3/4" wide and long, creamy white or yellowish on the vertical petal (the "standard") and rosy-pink on the lateral wings and the keel. (A total of five petals.) The flowers consist of a short, tubular calyx with five teeth, five petals in a pea-like configuration, 10 stamens (nine with fused filaments, one free from its midpoint) with small yellow anthers, and a single pistil with a tiny terminal stigma. Both stamens and pistil are enclosed by the keel. The seedpods are 1.5-3" long, cylindrical, slightly flattened beans spreading laterally from the flower spike; these, too, are (densely) silky-hairy. The seedpods are initially light green but turn brown with maturity. They split along the symmetry plane of the seedpod and the valves develop a spiral curl to release the seeds. Goat's-rue prefers sandy habitats. The long, woody roots contain rotenone, a compound that is toxic to fish and insects; it inhibits ATP production and disrupts mitochondrial function by blocking the electron transport chain. It would not be a good idea to suck on or ingest the roots of goat's-rue.

Tephrosia

Tephrosia virginiana

goat's-rue [Blooms: Jun-Jul]

Fuzzy flower stalks about 1" long arise from the leaf axils of low hop clover. The flowerheads are roughly spherical, lemon yellow, and about 1/2" across comprised of 20-40 pea-like florets with five petals; each floret is about 4 mm long. The upper petal (the standard) on each floret is conspicuously grooved and forms a hood over the two petals forming the keel; two lateral petals flank the keel. Fertilized florets form tiny seedpods that are shorter than the keel. The flower color and foliage of low hop clover are very similar to black medic (Medicago lupulina), but the standard on black medic is not grooved and sits perpendicular to the keel.

Trifolium

Trifolium campestre

low hop clover [Blooms: May-Aug]

Alsike clover is an exotic perennial native to Europe. Despite the scientific name ("hybridus"), it is not a hybrid. (Linnaeus thought it was a hybrid of red and white clover. It isn't.) The plant is 6-24" tall, with occasional branches along the stems. One- to three-inch-long flower stalks arising from the leaf axils terminate in a flowerhead 1/2-3/4" across; florets tend to be white on the top of the flowerhead and reddish-purple to pink on the bottom, but may all be reddish. Individual florets are 1/4" long with five petals in a pea-like bloom. They have a sharply pointed standard (the major vertical petal, perpendicular to the keel), two petals that make up the keel, and two lateral petals that flank the keel. Ten stamens and a single pistil are hidden inside the keel. Unlike red clover (T. pratense) and white clover (T. repens), there are no pale chevron-shaped markings on the leaflets.

Trifolium

Trifolium hybridum

alsike clover [Blooms: May-Jul]

The upper stems of red clover end in 3/4-1" wide pinkish-purple (not actually red) flowerheads, usually with 1-3 leaflets or a compound leaf and some pointed bracts immediately below the bloom. The florets are tubular modification of a typical pea-like flower with five petals; the upper petal (the standard) is slightly longer than the other four petals and has a slightly pointed tip. Red clover is easily identified by the pinkish-purple flowerheads, the leaflets inserted just below the flowerheads, and the white chevrons on the leaflets.

Trifolium

Trifolium pratense

red clover [Blooms: Apr-Jun]

White clover's hairless, leafless flower stalks are up to 3" long. They emerge directly from the horizontal stems and grow perpendicular to the ground, producing a single globular 3/4" wide flowerhead at their tips. The flowerheads are all white, consisting of 20-50 pea-like florets. The florets are tubular, consisting of a green calyx with five long, narrow teeth, and five white or pinkish-white petals (a standard, two petals making the keel, and a pair of lateral petals flanking the keel). White clover is similar to alsike clover (T. hybridum), but that species usually has some pink in the flowerheads and never has white chevrons on the leaflets.

Trifolium

Trifolium repens

white clover [Blooms: May-Jun]

American wisteria's flowers occur in showy terminal racemes. The flowers have 1/2" long pedicels that are densely covered with stiff hairs and some club-shaped, stalked glands. Individual flowers consist of a 1/4-3/8"white to pale green, hairy calyx and 15-20 mm long bluish-purple, pea-like, hairless flowers. The expanded portion of the banner (or standard) is bent backwards so it is perpendicular to the axis of the rest of the flower; the two lateral petals cover the keel like a hood. There are 10 stamens with tiny anthers, an ovary encircled by a nectar gland, and a single style hidden within the keel; nine of the 10 stamens are fused to each other, the tenth is free. The fruits are 2.75-4" long pea-like, hairless green pods containing 4-8 kidney-shaped or oval seeds, each about 8 mm wide; the pods are brown and the seeds are black when mature. The seeds contain an alpha-amino acid called canavanine which is structurally similar to L-arginine and the pods contain a saponin called wisterin; neither is a good thing to ingest. I've only seen American wisteria growing on the fence west of Japanese Garden. Periodically, the Park District cuts it down, I suspect because they fear for the fence's structural integrity (it's a heavy plant), but I wish a better solution could be found given American wisteria's rarity.

Wisteria

Wisteria frutescens

American wisteria [Blooms: May-Oct]