Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus californicus |
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Pursh's milkvetch, woollypod milkvetch |
California milkvetch, Klamath milkvetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, acaulescent to shortly caulescent, densely villous to villous-tomentose, hairs basifixed. | Plants perennial, caulescent, villous-villosulous, hairs basifixed. |
Stems | prostrate, loosely to densely tufted, 0–20 cm. |
several–numerous, decumbent to ascending; leafless at bases, 15–50 cm. |
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. |
3–8.5 cm; leaflets 13–21, elliptic-oblong to oblanceolate; (4)6–20(23) × 2–4 mm; tips truncate-retuse to obtuse; surfaces usually strigillose; stipules 1.5–6.5 mm; at least lowermost connate-sheathing. |
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 10–30-flowered; peduncles (3)6–14 cm; bracts (1.5)2–5 mm; pedicels 1.3–3.5 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). |
declined or nodding at anthesis; calyces 6.4–9.7 mm; silky villous with white and some black hairs; tubes 5.2–7 mm; teeth triangular, 0.9–3 mm; corollas 11.5–17.4 mm, ochroleucous or yellowish; ovules (15)19–27. |
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, linear-oblong, strongly laterally compressed; straight or slightly decurved, bicarinate, 27–43 × 3.4–5 mm, sparsely to densely strigillose, rarely glabrous; valves papery; stipes 8–14 mm. |
Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus californicus |
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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. |
Oak woodlands, coniferous forests, chaparral. Flowering Mar–May. 600–1400 m. Sisk. CA. Native. |
Source | Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 671 Richard Halse |
Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 659 Richard Halse |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Astragalus purshii var. ophiogenes | |
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