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Humboldt River milkvetch

four-wing milkvetch

Habit Plants perennial, caulescent, strigillose to villosulous, hairs basifixed. Plants perennial, caulescent, strigillose, hairs basifixed.
Stems

several, prostrate to decumbent, 3–40 cm.

several, ascending to erect, becoming decumbent in fruit, 10–35(45) cm.

Leaves

2–8 cm;

leaflets 7–21, obovate to oblong or oblanceolate to elliptic, 3–18 × 2–12 mm;

tips truncate to retuse, obtuse or mucronate;

surfaces sparsely strigose to glabrous;

stipules 2–6 mm; free.

1.5–9 cm;

leaflets 9–23, linear, narrowly oblong or elliptic, 1–33 × 0.3–3.2 mm;

tips obtuse to acute;

surfaces glabrous to strigose;

terminal leaflets confluent with rachis in the uppermost leaves;

stipules 2–5.5 mm; free.

Inflorescences

racemes 7–21-flowered;

peduncles 1–4.5 cm;

bracts 1–3 mm;

pedicels 0.3–2 mm;

bracteoles 0–2.

racemes 6–15-flowered;

peduncles 1–6.5 cm;

bracts 1.5–3.5 mm;

pedicels 1.4–4.3 mm;

bracteoles 0–2.

Flowers

widely ascending or spreading at anthesis;

calyces 3.3–8 mm, strigillose or rarely villosulous with black or mixture of black and white hairs;

tubes 2.6–5 mm;

teeth subulate or triangular, 1–3 mm;

corollas 9–15.5 mm, bright purple to lilac or whitish, sometimes lilac-tinged or -tipped;

ovules 14–30.

ascending at anthesis;

calyces (4)5.5–8.7 mm, strigose with black or mixture of black and white hairs;

tubes 3.5–7 mm;

teeth subulate or triangular, 0.5–2.8 mm;

corollas 15–19 mm, white to yellowish and pink or bright pink-purple-tinged;

keel faintly to darkly purple-tipped;

ovules 28–42.

Fruits

unilocular to semibilocular, deflexed, humistrately spreading, lanceolate, linear-lanceolate or lance-elliptic, curved through a quarter- to half-circle or more, dorsiventrally or trigonously compressed, ventrally sulcate, 15–40 × 2.5–8.5 mm, often mottled, strigillose or glabrous;

valves stiffly papery or subcoriaceous;

stipes 0.

unilocular, declined or pendulous, obliquely oblong or clavate-oblong, curved or coiled, strongly carinate, obcompressed early, becoming sharply tetragonal and 4-winged;

wings up to 2.5 mm wide at maturity; (16)20–40 × (4)6–10 mm, glabrous to strigose;

valves stiffly papery to subcoriaceous;

stipes 0.

2n

=22.

Astragalus iodanthus

Astragalus tetrapterus

Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

2 varieties.

Hillsides of ash-clay-tuff, sandy soils, sagebrush. Flowering May–Jun. 900–1700 m. BR, ECas, Owy. ID, NV; southeast to AZ. Native.

The four-winged fruits of this species are unique among Oregon milkvetches.

Source Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 666
Richard Halse
Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 675
Richard Halse
Sibling taxa
A. accidens, A. agrestis, A. alpinus, A. alvordensis, A. applegatei, A. arthuri, A. atratus, A. australis, A. beckwithii, A. californicus, A. calycosus, A. canadensis, A. caricinus, A. collinus, A. conjunctus, A. curvicarpus, A. cusickii, A. diaphanus, A. drummondii, A. eremiticus, A. filipes, A. gambellianus, A. geyeri, A. hoodianus, A. howellii, A. inflexus, A. kentrophyta, A. lemmonii, A. lentiginosus, A. malacus, A. misellus, A. mulfordiae, A. multiflorus, A. newberryi, A. nudisiliquus, A. obscurus, A. peckii, A. platytropis, A. purshii, A. reventus, A. robbinsii, A. salmonis, A. sclerocarpus, A. sheldonii, A. solitarius, A. spaldingii, A. sterilis, A. succumbens, A. tegetarioides, A. tetrapterus, A. toanus, A. tweedyi, A. tyghensis, A. umbraticus, A. vallaris, A. whitneyi
A. accidens, A. agrestis, A. alpinus, A. alvordensis, A. applegatei, A. arthuri, A. atratus, A. australis, A. beckwithii, A. californicus, A. calycosus, A. canadensis, A. caricinus, A. collinus, A. conjunctus, A. curvicarpus, A. cusickii, A. diaphanus, A. drummondii, A. eremiticus, A. filipes, A. gambellianus, A. geyeri, A. hoodianus, A. howellii, A. inflexus, A. iodanthus, A. kentrophyta, A. lemmonii, A. lentiginosus, A. malacus, A. misellus, A. mulfordiae, A. multiflorus, A. newberryi, A. nudisiliquus, A. obscurus, A. peckii, A. platytropis, A. purshii, A. reventus, A. robbinsii, A. salmonis, A. sclerocarpus, A. sheldonii, A. solitarius, A. spaldingii, A. sterilis, A. succumbens, A. tegetarioides, A. toanus, A. tweedyi, A. tyghensis, A. umbraticus, A. vallaris, A. whitneyi
Subordinate taxa
A. iodanthus var. diaphanoides, A. iodanthus var. iodanthus
Synonyms Astragalus cinerascens, Astragalus tetrapterus var. cinerascens, Astragalus tetrapterus var. tetrapterus
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