Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus alvordensis |
|
---|---|---|
Pursh's milkvetch, woollypod milkvetch |
Alvord milkvetch |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, acaulescent to shortly caulescent, densely villous to villous-tomentose, hairs basifixed. | Plants perennial, caulescent, cinereous, hairs basifixed. |
Stems | prostrate, loosely to densely tufted, 0–20 cm. |
1 |
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. |
(1)1.5–5 cm; leaflets (7)11–21, narrowly or broadly obovate, 1–7 × 1–5 mm; tips retuse or obcordate; surfaces abaxially strigose, adaxially glabrescent or strigose; stipules 0.5–2.5 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, loosely 5–14-flowered; peduncles 1–3.5 cm; bracts 0.5–1 mm; pedicels 1–2 mm; bracteoles 0. |
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). |
declined at anthesis; calyces 2.5–3 mm, villosulous with white and black hairs; tubes 2–2.5 mm; teeth triangular, 0.5–0.7 mm; corollas 7–8.2 mm; pale lilac or whitish to yellowish, veined and tinged with lilac; ovules 10–16. |
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. |
unilocular, pendulous, crescentic or hamate to coiled (1–2 spirals), strongly laterally compressed, bicarinate, 5–10 × 3–4 mm, villosulous; valves papery; stipes 2–9 mm. |
– | few; erect, 15–30 cm; wiry. |
|
Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus alvordensis |
|
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. |
Desert hillsides, sand dunes, sagebrush. Flowering May–Jun. 1000–1400 m. BR, BW, Owy. NV. Native. |
Source | Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 671 Richard Halse |
Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 657 Richard Halse |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Astragalus purshii var. ophiogenes | |
Web links |
|