Astragalus canadensis var. canadensis
Astragalus canadensis var. mortonii
astragale du Canada, Canada milk-vetch, Canadian milk-vetch
Canada milk-vetch, Canadian milk-vetch, Morton's Canadian milkvetch, Morton's milkvetch
usually branched or with spur branches 1 or several nodes preceding first peduncle, sometimes unbranched, robust, slender and almost solid, or stout and hollow, (35–)40–120(–160) cm.
unbranched, relatively slender, (25–)30–70(–90) cm.
(3.5–)5–25(–35) cm;
leaflets (9–)15–35, blades 6–45(–52) mm, apex obtuse, apiculate, or truncate-emarginate.
(3–)6–19(–22.5) cm;
leaflets (9–)13–19(or 21), blades 10–45(–50) mm, thin.
rarely loose, 3–16 × (2–)2.5–3 cm, flowers 11.3–16.3 mm.
sometimes interrupted proximally, 2.5–12 × 2.7–3.5 cm, flowers (12.6–)13.2–16.5 mm.
slender or stout, (2.5–)4–12(–13) cm.
rather slender, 6–22 cm.
1.2–2.5 mm.
1.4–2 mm.
calyx (4.6–)5.5–9.6(–10.3) mm, lobes 1.5–5.5 mm;
corolla greenish white or dull stramineous.
calyx (6.5–)7.4–10.5(–11) mm, lobes (1.5–)2–4.4 mm, adaxial pair usually not much broader (though sometimes shorter) than the rest;
corolla greenish white or ochroleucous.
terete or subterete, carinate by ventral suture, not grooved dorsally, (9–)10–15 × 4–5.2 mm, beak 2–6 mm, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent or strigulose.
grooved dorsally, (9–)11–20 × 3–5 mm, beak (3–)3.5–5 mm, thinly strigose or glabrate;
septum (2–)2.5–3.4 mm wide.
(18–)20–26(or 27).
(16–)18–26.
3–18 mm, proximalmost usually ruptured becoming irregularly circumscissile.
3.5–11(–14) mm, proximalmost persistent, not ruptured.
= 16.
= 16.
Astragalus canadensis var. canadensis
Astragalus canadensis var. mortonii
R. C. Barneby (1964) circumscribed var. canadensis rather broadly to include multiracial variation. As reviewed by D. Isely (1998), several regional manuals (such as M. L. Fernald 1950) have recognized var. carolinianus and var. longilobus in the eastern states. The rationale, largely derived by N. C. Fassett (1939b), was extensively counter-argued by Barneby.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
A. Gray (1864), under the discussion of Astragalus mortonii, cited both A. spicatus Nuttall ex Torrey & A. Gray (an illegitimate name, not Pallas 1773), and A. tristis Nuttall ex Torrey & A. Gray (see synonymy of var. brevidens), but considered ovary and legume pubescence as the primary distinguishing feature. This is commonly an elongate, slender plant with thin-textured foliage of forested regions within its range. The flowers vary in color from greenish white to cream, sometimes suffused with purple, but dry to cream or brownish. Flowers are ascending in bud but soon become spreading to declined, until in fruit they are erect-ascending.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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