General: Perennial herb from a branched root-crown atop a heavy taproot; stems several, ascending to erect, 20-60 cm tall, tufted, sparsely stiff-hairy.
Leaves: Alternate, pinnately compound; leaflets 11 to 27, linear-oblong to narrowly elliptic or egg-shaped, abruptly narrowed to a sharp point at the tip, 1-3 cm long, slightly hairy beneath, minutely reddish-dotted above; stipules lanceolate, reddish-brown, papery, 5-12 mm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence an axillary, dense, spike-like raceme of 10 to 50 pea-like flowers, the stout raceme-stalks longer than the leaves; corollas pink to lavender, lined with reddish-purple, 10-13 mm long, the wings much shorter than the banner or keel; calyces bell-shaped, the 5 awl-shaped teeth twice the length of the long-hairy tube.
Fruits: Pods, leathery and non-splitting, egg-shaped, 6-8 mm long, hairy, net-ridged, pimply or short-prickly on the flanks; seeds 1.
Holy-clover is noticeably abundant in disturbed sites (roadsides, open fields, clear cuts) in the southern interior where it often grows intermixed with Medicago sativa and Linaria genistifolia ssp. dalmatica.
Note Author: R. Klinkenberg, June 2009.
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Onobrychis viciifolia
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
