Flora of North America species comparison

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Acmispon strigosus

Acmispon strigosus var. tomentellus

strigose lotus
Photo is of parent taxon
Habit Herbs, annual, usually mat-forming, sometimes cespitose (ascending and bushy), green to grayish, 0.3–5 dm, not or ± fleshy, strigillose, hirsute, canescent-tomentose, or scantily pubescent; taprooted. Herbs cinereous (to greenish), succulent, canescent-tomentose to scantly pubescent or sometimes strigillose, hairs appressed.
Stems

1–20+, procumbent or decumbent to ascending, branched basally, herbaceous, slender, leafy.

prostrate.
Leaves

irregularly pinnate;

stipules glandlike;

subsessile;

rachis 3–20 mm, flattened;

leaflets 4–10, blades unequal, obovate to oblanceolate to linear-oblong or oblong, apex acute to obtuse or truncate, surfaces ± densely tomentose to glabrate.

Leaflet

blades oblong, apex obtuse or truncate.
Inflorescences

1–3-flowered.

Peduncles

ascending or reflexed, upturned, 3–25 mm, shorter to longer than leaves (often elongated in fruit);

bract absent or 1–3-foliolate, usually subtending umbel.

less than 0.5(–1) cm, little (or sometimes) elongating in fruit, mostly shorter than leaves.
Flowers

(5–)6–10(–12) mm;

calyx 3–5.5 mm, tube ± sparsely strigillose or glabrous, lobes subulate;

corolla yellow (sometimes banner orangish abaxially), turning orange or reddish, claws ± equaling calyx tube, banner implicate-ascending or remaining closely implicate, wings longer than keel;

style corneously thickened, marked by color, straight, puberulent or glabrous.

Corollas

not opening.
Legumes

persistent, exserted, erect or divergent, brown, straight to ± curved distally, compressed, not or slightly constricted, incompletely septate, linear-oblong, 10–35 × 2–3 mm, thinly leathery, apex initially short-beaked, dehiscent, smooth, margins smooth, thin, glabrous or ± strigose.

usually curved toward apex, 10–25(–30) × 2 mm.
Seeds

5–10, greenish to brown, ± mottled, ovoid to cuboid or globose, rugulose or granular.

pale buff or light green, ± mottled purplish brown, globose to cuboid, 1 mm, finely granular.

Acmispon strigosus

Acmispon strigosus var. tomentellus
Phenology Flowering late winter–spring.
Habitat Desert slopes and washes, usually with creosote bush, rocky desert foot­hills, canyons, roadsides, sandy or gravelly soils.
Elevation 0–1500(–2400) m. (0–4900(–7900) ft.)
Distribution
sw United States; n Mexico
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Sonora)
Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

D. Isely (1981) discussed the variation in Acmispon strigosus (as Lotus), distinguishing three varieties, two rather distinct but with intergrading phases, and one apparently more transitional, although distinct enough to be recognized. These varieties were only noted for California in recent treatments (for example, L. Brouillet 2012, following D. Isely 1993). Nonetheless, the typical (for example, excluding intergrading phases) varieties represent recognizable morphologies that also have geographic distinction. Specimens representing intergradation seem to occur throughout the range of overlap of these varieties, sometimes rendering determination difficult.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Variety tomentellus is the main morphotype encountered in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts and the only form present in Arizona and Nevada. Some Arizona individuals occasionally exhibit pubescence features characteristic of var. strigosus (phase 2 of D. Isely 1981).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Herbs evidently hirsute, especially at apex, greenish.
var. hirtellus
1. Herbs usually strigillose or canescent-tomentose to scantly pubescent, rarely strigillose, green or cinereous.
→ 2
2. Stems ascending or decumbent, not markedly succulent, usually appearing green, sometimes cinereous; leaflet blades linear-oblong, apices acute to obtuse; corolla opening; California.
var. strigosus
2. Stems prostrate, succulent, cinereous(–greenish); leaflet blades oblong, apices obtuse or truncate; corolla not opening; Arizona, California, Nevada.
var. tomentellus
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Acmispon Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Acmispon > Acmispon strigosus
Sibling taxa
A. americanus, A. argophyllus, A. argyraeus, A. brachycarpus, A. cytisoides, A. decumbens, A. dendroideus, A. denticulatus, A. glaber, A. grandiflorus, A. haydonii, A. intricatus, A. junceus, A. maritimus, A. mearnsii, A. micranthus, A. neomexicanus, A. parviflorus, A. plebeius, A. procumbens, A. prostratus, A. rigidus, A. rubriflorus, A. tomentosus, A. utahensis, A. wrangelianus, A. wrightii
A. strigosus var. hirtellus, A. strigosus var. strigosus
Subordinate taxa
A. strigosus var. hirtellus, A. strigosus var. strigosus, A. strigosus var. tomentellus
Synonyms Hosackia strigosa, Anisolotus strigosus, Lotus strigosus, Ottleya strigosa Lotus tomentellus, Hosackia tomentella, L. strigosus var. tomentellus
Name authority (Nuttall) Brouillet: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 2: 392. (2008) (Greene) Brouillet: Phytoneuron 2020-29: 1. (2020)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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