Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus sheldonii |
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Pursh's milkvetch, woollypod milkvetch |
Sheldon's milkvetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, acaulescent to shortly caulescent, densely villous to villous-tomentose, hairs basifixed. | Plants perennial, caulescent, strigillose-pilosulose, hairs basifixed. |
Stems | prostrate, loosely to densely tufted, 0–20 cm. |
several–numerous, ascending to erect; in clumps, 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. |
7–19 cm; leaflets (17)23 –35(39), oblong-obovate, elliptic or oblanceolate, 5–22 × 1–4 mm; tips retuse, obtuse or subacute; surfaces abaxially pubescent, adaxially glabrous; stipules 3–10 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 10–30(35)-flowered; peduncles (11)16–30 cm; bracts 2.5–9 mm; pedicels 1.3–6 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 to nodding at anthesis; calyces 8.5–12.6 mm, pilosulose with black or mixed black and white hairs; tubes 5.6–7.5 mm; teeth subulate, 2–5.2(6) mm; corollas 15.5–21.5 mm, white or cream, unspotted; ovules (20)24–31. |
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 or semibilocular; erect, narrowly oblong-elliptic; straight, obcompressed; (15)17–23 × 4–6.5 mm, glabrous or minutely strigillose; valves coriaceous; stipes 0–1.5 mm. |
2n | =24. |
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Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus sheldonii |
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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. |
Prairies, ridges, meadows. Flowering May–Jul. 1100–1700 m. BW. ID, WA. Native. Astragalus sheldonii is closely related to A. reventus from which it differs by its narrower and more nearly bilocular fruits, shorter calyx tube, and usually the presence of a small stipe. |
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 | Astragalus reventus var. sheldonii |
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