White prairie clover
White prairie clover (Dalea candida) is the white-flowered companion to purple prairie clover: a deep-taprooted native legume that fixes nitrogen, feeds bees through mid-summer, and delivers some of the highest-protein forage on the prairie.
Why landowners plant white prairie clover
- Fixes nitrogen, improving stand health without fertilizer inputs.
- Blooms slightly earlier than purple prairie clover, widening the nectar window.
- High-protein forage valued where CRP grazing is authorized.
- Meets native legume requirements in CP25 and CP42 seeding specs.
Site fit
Dry to mesic, well-drained uplands on loam, sandy loam, and gravel. Avoid wet or poorly drained ground. Pairs naturally with little bluestem and sideoats grama.
Establishment
Scarify and inoculate the seed. Dormant or early-spring seeding both work. Slow first year, first bloom typically in year two or three. Deer and rabbits browse young plants heavily on small plots.
Management
Fire-tolerant. Sensitive to heavy continuous grazing because livestock seek it out — rotate. Never use broadleaf herbicide over a stand where legumes matter.
CRP practice fit
Required native legume component in many state mixes.
Mid-summer bloom plus nitrogen fixation in pollinator plantings.
Legume value in quail buffer seedings.
Featured mixes with white prairie clover
Pairs well with
Purple prairie clover · Little bluestem · Sideoats grama · Illinois bundleflower
Frequently asked questions
Plant both. They bloom in slightly different windows and support overlapping but distinct pollinator groups, giving you more nectar coverage for the same seed cost.
Yes. Use a Dalea-compatible rhizobium inoculant at seeding so the plants fix nitrogen from the start.