Authors: Sims  

Botanical Description

tufted annual 10-30cm tall. Leaflets six to ten, oblanceolate to obovate, 2-3cm long on petioles 5-15cm long. Inflorescence solitary or a few, dense, racemose, formed of three to ten whorls, each of six purple or smoky-blue 1-1.5cm long flowers, spring to early summer in the wild. Chile, Atacama to Patagonia in coastal sands and meadows and low alpine coarse steppe and dry pasturage from sea level to 2000m. Although annual, this is often a quietly attractive little plant, and relevant because it is occasionally distributed in Andean seed collections.