prairie clover

noun

1. any plant belonging to the genus Petalostemon, of the legume family, common in western North America, having pinnately compound leaves and spikes of white, purple, or pink flowers.

Word History and Origins

Origin of prairie clover¹

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60

Example Sentences

“If you have white and purple prairie clover side by side,” Holm said, “you’ll likely observe wasps preferentially visiting the white flowers.”

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“I’m looking for white prairie clover,” Hunt explained, clipping a seed head of the small white flower and dropping it into her basket.

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DeLong pulled over for a patch of white prairie clover.

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“We found lupine, prairie smoke, prairie larkspur, the prairie clovers - both white and purple prairie clover. We found our tall prairie cinquefoil. We found hyssop. Bergamot. Butterfly weed.”

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On a Wednesday morning in mid-August, Therese and Bill Folsom joined DeLong in search of white prairie clover and purple prairie clover.

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