Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus spaldingii |
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Pursh's milkvetch, woollypod milkvetch |
Spalding's milkvetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, acaulescent to shortly caulescent, densely villous to villous-tomentose, hairs basifixed. | Plants perennial, caulescent, canescent-villous, hairs basifixed. |
Stems | prostrate, loosely to densely tufted, 0–20 cm. |
numerous, prostrate, decumbent, or ascending, 10–50 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. |
2.5–13 cm; leaflets (9)15–25(29), narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, 4–18 × 1–4.5 mm; tips obtuse to acute; surfaces villous or villous-pilose; stipules 2.5–8 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 dense, closely crowded, elongating and spiciform with age; (6)12–30-flowered; peduncles 3–10 cm; bracts 1.5–4.5 mm; pedicels 0.2–0.8 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 at anthesis; calyces 5–8.3 mm, white villous or villous-tomentose; tubes (2.5)3.1–4.5 mm; teeth narrowly subulate, 2–4.2 mm; corollas 7–11.7 mm; whitish, often lavender-tinged, glabrous; ovules 4–10. |
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, enclosed by persistent calyces, spreading or ascending, obliquely ovoid; straight; somewhat compressed; (3.5)4–6 × 2.5–3.5 mm, densely villous-tomentulose; valves thickly papery; stipes 0–0.3 mm. |
2n | =24. |
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Astragalus purshii |
Astragalus spaldingii |
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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. |
Slopes and roadside banks, sagebrush and bunchgrass communities. Flowering Apr–Jul. 300–1300 m. BW, Col. ID, WA. Native. This species is readily distinguished by its spike-like racemes of small, crowded, pallid flowers and small, densely pubescent ovoid fruits enclosed for most of their length by the persistent calyces. |
Source | Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 671 Richard Halse |
Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 674 Richard Halse |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | Astragalus purshii var. ophiogenes | |
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