Flora of North America species comparison

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Astragalus australis var. olympicus
Photo is of parent taxon

cotton's milkvetch
Stems

decumbent to ascending, 10–17 cm.
Leaves

(1.5–)2–5.5 cm;

subsessile;

leaflets 9–15(or 17), blades linear-elliptic to elliptic-oblanceolate, 4–16 mm, apex acute to subacute, surfaces usually villosulous, sometimes glabrate adaxially.
Racemes

densely 11–21-flowered;

axis 2–6 cm in fruit.
Peduncles

3–6.5 cm.
Flowers

10–12.2 mm;

calyx 7–8.4 mm, tube 3.8–4.4 mm, lobes 3–4 mm;

corolla creamy white.
Legumes

semi-ellipsoid, bladdery-inflated, 20–25 × 7–9(–11) mm, glabrous;

stipe 3–5 mm.
Seeds

10–15.
2n

= 16.

Astragalus australis var. olympicus
Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Limestone ridge tops and talus.
Elevation 1300–1700 m. (4300–5600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
WA
Discussion

Variety olympicus is geographically isolated in the Olympic Mountains in Clallam County and is the most distinctive variety within the Astragalus australis complex in North America, yet its inflated fruits approach those of populations of var. lepagei.

Astragalus australis var. cottonii (M. E. Jones) S. L. Welsh is a superfluous name that pertains here.

Variety olympicus is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Hemiphragmium > Astragalus australis
Sibling taxa
A. australis var. glabriusculus, A. australis var. lepagei, A. australis var. muriei
Synonyms A. olympicus, A. cottonii
Name authority Isely: Syst. Bot. 8: 421. (1983)
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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