Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus caricinus |
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Pursh's milkvetch, woollypod milkvetch |
buckwheat milkvetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, acaulescent to shortly caulescent, densely villous to villous-tomentose, hairs basifixed. | Plants perennial, caulescent, densely gray-villous or -pilose, hairs basifixed or malpighian. |
Stems | prostrate, loosely to densely tufted, 0–20 cm. |
numerous, ascending to erect, clustered; (10)15–30 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. |
3.5–9(10.5) cm; leaflets 11–19(23), narrowly elliptic to lance-elliptic to narrowly oblong; (3)5–18 × 1–4 mm; tips acute to obtuse or mucronulate; surfaces villous; stipules (2)3–8 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 lax, not crowded; (5)10–25-flowered; peduncles 0.5–5(7) cm; bracts 1–2.5 mm; pedicels 0.4–1.5 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). |
spreading to declined at anthesis; calyces 3.5–5.5 mm, densely white- or partly black-villosulous; tubes 1.7–3 mm; teeth subulate-setaceous, 1.3–3 mm; corollas 4.5–7 mm; whitish or tinged lilac, drying yellowish; ovules 6–8. |
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, deflexed; lance-elliptic; straight, compressed-triquetrous or laterally compressed, narrowly sulcate dorsally, 6–9 × 2–3 mm, white or gray tomentulose; valves papery; stipes 0. |
Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus caricinus |
|
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. |
Sand dunes. Flowering May–Jun. 100–1000 m. Col, Owy. ID, WA. Native. Buckwheat milkvetch is distinguished by its dense gray pubescence, connate lower stipules, small pale flowers, and small, deflexed, densely hairy, bilocular fruits. |
Source | Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 671 Richard Halse |
Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 661 Richard Halse |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Astragalus purshii var. ophiogenes | Astragalus lyallii, Astragalus lyallii var. caricinus |
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