Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus conjunctus |
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Pursh's milkvetch, woollypod milkvetch |
basalt milkvetch, Idaho milkvetch, stiff milkvetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, acaulescent to shortly caulescent, densely villous to villous-tomentose, hairs basifixed. | Plants perennial, subacaulescent to shortly caulescent, strigillose, hairs basifixed. |
Stems | prostrate, loosely to densely tufted, 0–20 cm. |
several–numerous, ascending to erect; in clumps, 15–65 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. |
leaflets (9)13–25(31), linear-oblong, linear-elliptic, lanceolate, or sub-filiform, 3–23 × 0.7–3(4) mm; tips obtuse; acute or retuse; surfaces abaxially pubescent, adaxially pubescent, glabrate, or glabrous; terminal leaflets sometimes confluent with rachis; stipules 3–11 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 7–17(20)-flowered; peduncles 10–33 cm; bracts 2–4.5 mm; pedicels 1–4.5 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). |
ascending to spreading at anthesis; calyces (7)8.5–12 mm; greenish strigillose with black or mostly black hairs; tubes 4.9–9.2 mm; teeth subulate, 1.3–3(4) mm; corollas 15–26 mm; whitish, sometimes tipped with purple or rarely purple throughout; ovules 15–30. |
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 to semibilocular; erect, oblong-ellipsoid to oblong-ovoid; straight or slightly incurved, obcompressed; dorsal surface almost flat to shallowly sulcate, 12–25 × 4–8(10) mm, transversely rugulose; valves coriaceous to subligneous; stipes 0. |
Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus conjunctus |
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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. |
Astragalus conjunctus is closely related to A. hoodianus. A third closely related species, A. reventiformis, has been reported from Sherman County, but no voucher has been found to confirm its presence in Oregon. |
Source | Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 671 Richard Halse |
Flora of Oregon, volume 2 draft Richard Halse |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Astragalus purshii var. ophiogenes | |
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