Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus sclerocarpus |
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Pursh's milkvetch, woollypod milkvetch |
The Dalles milkvetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, acaulescent to shortly caulescent, densely villous to villous-tomentose, hairs basifixed. | Plants perennial, caulescent, silvery strigillose, hairs basifixed. |
Stems | prostrate, loosely to densely tufted, 0–20 cm. |
several, spreading or decumbent to ascending; clump-forming, 20–50 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)5–13 cm; leaflets (5)7–17(21), linear, linear-oblanceolate or narrowly oblong, 3–23 × 1–4 mm; tips obtuse or retuse; surfaces abaxially pubescent, adaxially pubescent, glabrescent, or glabrous; stipules 1.5–5 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 loosely (3)7–21(30)-flowered; peduncles 4–9.5 cm; bracts 1–2 mm; pedicels 1–2.5 mm; bracteoles usually 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-ascending at anthesis; calyces 5.9–8 mm, finely strigillose with black or largely black hairs; tubes 5.3–7 mm; teeth triangular, 0.5–1.3 mm; corollas 13–16 mm; whitish; banners and wings lilac-tinged; keels spotted with purple; ovules 30–36. |
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, crescentic or falcate, laterally compressed, sigmoidally incurved distally, bicarinate, 20–35 × (5.5)6.5–9 mm, densely to thinly strigillose; valves stiffly coriaceous or subligneous; stipes 12–20 mm. |
Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus sclerocarpus |
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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. |
Sandy barrens, dunes, roadsides, sagebrush. Flowering Apr–Jun. 50–900 m. Col. WA; north to British Columbia. Native. |
Source | Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 671 Richard Halse |
Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 673 Richard Halse |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Astragalus purshii var. ophiogenes | |
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