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Pursh's milkvetch, woollypod milkvetch

Humboldt River milkvetch

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

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

several, prostrate to decumbent, 3–40 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.

2–8 cm;

leaflets 7–21, obovate to oblong or oblanceolate to elliptic, 3–18 × 2–12 mm;

tips truncate to retuse, obtuse or mucronate;

surfaces sparsely strigose to glabrous;

stipules 2–6 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 7–21-flowered;

peduncles 1–4.5 cm;

bracts 1–3 mm;

pedicels 0.3–2 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).

widely ascending or spreading at anthesis;

calyces 3.3–8 mm, strigillose or rarely villosulous with black or mixture of black and white hairs;

tubes 2.6–5 mm;

teeth subulate or triangular, 1–3 mm;

corollas 9–15.5 mm, bright purple to lilac or whitish, sometimes lilac-tinged or -tipped;

ovules 14–30.

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, deflexed, humistrately spreading, lanceolate, linear-lanceolate or lance-elliptic, curved through a quarter- to half-circle or more, dorsiventrally or trigonously compressed, ventrally sulcate, 15–40 × 2.5–8.5 mm, often mottled, strigillose or glabrous;

valves stiffly papery or subcoriaceous;

stipes 0.

Astragalus purshii

Astragalus iodanthus

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.

2 varieties.

Source Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 671
Richard Halse
Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 666
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. 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. 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. iodanthus var. diaphanoides, A. iodanthus var. iodanthus
Synonyms Astragalus purshii var. ophiogenes
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