The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Pursh's milkvetch, woollypod milkvetch

Canadian milkvetch

Habit Plants perennial, acaulescent to shortly caulescent, densely villous to villous-tomentose, hairs basifixed. Plants perennial, caulescent, strigose, hairs malpighian.
Stems

prostrate, loosely to densely tufted, 0–20 cm.

1–few; erect, rarely decumbent to ascending, 15–120 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.

3–35 cm;

leaflets (7)13–35, lanceolate; lance-oblong or elliptic, 10–52 × 6–16 mm;

tips obtuse to emarginate;

surfaces abaxially strigose, adaxially strigose or glabrous;

stipules 3–14 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, densely many-flowered;

peduncles 4–22 cm;

bracts 1.5–10 mm;

pedicels 0.5–3.5 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).

spreading-declined at anthesis;

calyces 4.6–10.5 mm, white-, black- or fuscous-strigillose or -pilosulose;

tubes 4–8.5 mm;

teeth subulate or triangular, 1.2–5 mm;

corollas (11.3)13.2–17.5 mm, ochroleucous or greenish white;

ovules 16–28.

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; erect, cylindroid; terete or grooved dorsally, 10–20 × 2.9–5.2 mm, strigose or glabrous;

valves coriaceous or stiffly chartaceous;

stipes 0.

2n

=16.

Astragalus purshii

Astragalus canadensis

Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.

Canada and United States. 3 varieties; 2 varieties treated in Flora.

Canadian milkvetch is perhaps the most widely distributed Astragalus in North America, rivaled only by Astragalus alpinus.

Source Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 671
Richard Halse
Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 660
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. 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. 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. 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. tetrapterus, A. toanus, A. tweedyi, A. tyghensis, A. umbraticus, A. vallaris, A. whitneyi
Subordinate taxa
A. purshii var. glareosus, A. purshii var. lagopinus, A. purshii var. purshii, A. purshii var. tinctus
A. canadensis var. brevidens, A. canadensis var. mortonii
Synonyms Astragalus purshii var. ophiogenes
Web links