Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus accidens |
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Pursh's milkvetch, woollypod milkvetch |
Rogue River milkvetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, acaulescent to shortly caulescent, densely villous to villous-tomentose, hairs basifixed. | Plants perennial, caulescent, thinly villosulous, hairs basifixed. |
Stems | prostrate, loosely to densely tufted, 0–20 cm. |
several–numerous, decumbent to ascending, 30–55 cm, basally leafless. |
Leaves | 1–12(17) cm; leaflets (3)5–17(21), elliptic to oblanceolate, 2–14(20) × 1–7 mm; tips obtuse to acute; surfaces densely villous; stipules 2.5–15 mm; free. |
(3)5–12 cm; leaflets (15)19–29; lance-oblong, oblong to oblong-elliptic, 6–22 × 3–9 mm; tips emarginate or retuse; surfaces abaxially pubescent, adaxially pubescent or glabrous; stipules 3–6 mm; free. |
Inflorescences | racemes or subumbels, 1–12-flowered; peduncles 1–14 cm; bracts 4–9 mm; pedicels 2–4.3 mm; bracteoles 0–2. |
racemes, 7–15-flowered; peduncles (4.5)7–15 cm; bracts 1.5–3.3 mm; pedicels 1.5–3.3 mm; bracteoles (0)2. |
Flowers | ascending at anthesis; calyces 5.5–16(19) mm, often purple, villous-pilose with white or mixed white and black hairs; tubes 8.5–12.5 mm; teeth subulate, 2.2–6 mm; corollas 19–27 mm; whitish to ochroleucous or pink-purple; ovules 14–40(46). |
horizontal or somewhat declined at anthesis; calyces 6–9.4 mm, villosulous with black, fuscous or white hairs; tubes 4.0–5.5 mm; teeth subulate, 1.7–4 mm; corollas 13.8–19.3 mm; whitish to greenish yellow or yellowish, drying ochroleucous; ovules 11–24. |
Fruits | unilocular, ascending, obliquely ovoid, usually curved, obcompressed, scarcely to deeply sulcate; (7)13–27(30) × 3.5–11 mm, densely white to tawny tomentose or densely villous; hairs nearly always concealing valve surfaces; valves coriaceous, sessile or on gynophores 0–1.6 mm. |
bilocular, pendulous, rarely humistrate, oblong-ovoid or half-ovoid, subterete, becoming ± laterally compressed and bicarinate, 10–25 × 4.5–12 mm, glabrous or loosely strigillose; valves subligneous; stipes 5–12 mm. |
Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus accidens |
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Distribution | ||
Discussion | Western North America. ~8 varieties; 4 varieties treated in Flora. Throughout western North America, particularly in the Intermountain Region, this is a low, tufted milkvetch with white or gray villous hairs and pods resembling balls of cotton. Barneby (1964) stated, “Attempts to devise a practical key to the varieties of A. purshii are never wholly successful.” Variety ophiogenes, the Snake River milkvetch, a native of Idaho, has been reported from Malheur County, but this is apparently based on misidentifications of A. purshii var. lagopinus. Variety ophiogenes has 3–11-flowered racemes and 9–17 leaflets. |
California and Oregon. 2 varieties. |
Source | Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 671 Richard Halse |
Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 656 Richard Halse |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Astragalus purshii var. ophiogenes | |
Web links |
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