Astragalus australis var. olympicus |
Astragalus australis var. lepagei |
|
---|---|---|
cotton's milkvetch |
Lepage's milkvetch |
|
Stems | decumbent to ascending, 10–17 cm. |
sprawling to ascending, (8–)24–40 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. |
3–9 cm; sessile or petiolate; leaflets (5–)9–15, blades elliptic to lanceolate, lanceolate-oblong, linear-lanceolate, or linear, 6–33 mm, apex acute to apiculate, surfaces glabrous, strigulose, pilosulous, or villous. |
Racemes | densely 11–21-flowered; axis 2–6 cm in fruit. |
densely to loosely 8–29(–32)-flowered; axis 3–14 cm in fruit. |
Peduncles | 3–6.5 cm. |
(4–)4.5–10 cm. |
Flowers | 10–12.2 mm; calyx 7–8.4 mm, tube 3.8–4.4 mm, lobes 3–4 mm; corolla creamy white. |
(10.5–)11.5–13.8(–14.5) mm; calyx (4.7–)4.8–6.5 mm, tube 2.8–5 mm, lobes (1–)1.4–2.4 mm. |
Corollas | whitish to purplish. |
|
Legumes | semi-ellipsoid, bladdery-inflated, 20–25 × 7–9(–11) mm, glabrous; stipe 3–5 mm. |
obliquely ellipsoid to narrowly oblong, (10–)15–30 × (3–)6–8.5 mm, glabrous; stipe (3–)5–7 mm. |
Seeds | 10–15. |
|
2n | = 16. |
|
Astragalus australis var. olympicus |
Astragalus australis var. lepagei |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Limestone ridge tops and talus. | Spits, gravel bars, slopes, ridge crests, in mixed tundra. |
Elevation | 1300–1700 m. (4300–5600 ft.) | 0–400 m. (0–1300 ft.) |
Distribution |
WA |
AK; YT |
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. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. olympicus, A. cottonii | A. lepagei |
Name authority | Isely: Syst. Bot. 8: 421. (1983) | (Hultén) S. L. Welsh: Great Basin Naturalist 58: 47. (1998) |
Web links |