Ground plum (Astragalus crassicarpus)

Sprawling low perennial with numerous trailing stems and pinnately compound leaves. Leaflets slightly folded, hairy beneath. Large violet to white flowers clustered at branch tips. Fruit 1 inch across, purplish, juicy, edible when immature in July, dries to brown husk. Dry calcareous prairie. Blooms May-June. Important food of prairie-dwelling humans and other animals.