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Darwin Mesa milk vetch, Darwin milkvetch, mourning milkvetch

Stems

10–24(–30) cm.

Leaves

(3.5–)5–13.5 cm;

stipules 2.5–5 mm;

leaflets (7 or)9–15, blades oblong-oblanceolate or oblong-elliptic to oval, 3–16 mm, apex obtuse or retuse, surfaces glabrous or pubescent adaxially;

terminal leaflet jointed to rachis.

Racemes

(5–)7–18-flowered;

axis (3–)4–10.5 cm in fruit.

Peduncles

(3–)4.5–13 cm.

Flowers

9.8–13.4 mm;

calyx 5–7.6 mm, tube 4.5–5.6 mm, lobes 0.8–2.6 mm;

corolla broadly margined or tipped with purple.

Legumes

laterally compressed, 16–22 × 3.5–4.3 mm, bilocular;

septum 1–2.7 mm wide;

stipe 0–0.7 mm.

Seeds

18–29.

Astragalus atratus var. mensanus

Phenology Flowering late Apr–Jun.
Habitat Volcanic clay and gravel, with pinyon and sagebrush, often sheltered by sagebrush or Salvia dorrii.
Elevation 1400–2700 m. (4600–8900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

R. C. Barneby (1964) noted that it would be impossible to distinguish specimens of var. mensanus and var. atratus that do not have fruit or locality data. The few specimens of var. mensanus apparently come from two local populations approximately 50 km apart in Death Valley in Inyo County (D. Isely 1998).

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

Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Atrati > Astragalus atratus
Sibling taxa
A. atratus var. atratus, A. atratus var. inseptus, A. atratus var. owyheensis
Synonyms A. mensanus
Name authority M. E. Jones: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 2, 5: 665. (1895)
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