Flora of North America species comparison

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Astragalus flavus var. flavus

Astragalus flavus var. higginsii
Photo is of parent taxon
Photo is of parent taxon

larry's stinking milkvetch
Habit Plants forming tufts. Plants forming small clumps, sometimes flowering first season.
Racemes

slightly to much surpassing leaves.

surpassing leaves.
Peduncles

usually to 12 cm.

usually 12–23 cm.
Flowers

11–17.8 mm;

calyx 4–7.5 mm, strigose to short-villous, tube 3.2–5.2 mm;

corolla usually cream to lemon yellow, rarely suffused with pale pink or purple.

calyx 4–6.7 mm, strigose to short-villous, tube 3.7–5.2 mm;

corolla usually white to cream or stramineous, rarely pink-purple.
Seeds

8–17.

(6–)8–14.
2n

= 24, 26.

Astragalus flavus var. flavus

Astragalus flavus var. higginsii
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jul(–Sep). Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Seleniferous substrates composed of saline silts and clays derived from Triassic Chinle and Moenkopi, Jurassic Arapien Shale, Entrada, Curtis, Summerville, Morrison, and Cedar Mountain formations, and from Cretaceous Mancos Shale and Tropic Shale formations, and other similarly fine-textured Tertiary formations, in salt desert shrub, pinyon-juniper communities. Triassic Chinle, Moenkopi, and other similar, fine-textured, seleniferous formations.
Elevation 800–2300 m. (2600–7500 ft.) 800–1900 m. (2600–6200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; UT; WY
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; NV; UT
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Sheep poisoning attributable to var. flavus, possibly due to ingestion of selenium, is known from lower elevations of the Uinta Basin in northeastern Utah.

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

There is considerable variation within var. higginsii, particularly with regard to relative peduncle length and overall height of plants, and not all specimens from within its geographic range fit comfortably within its description. Short-pedunculate phases simulate purple-flowered Astragalus sophoroides of the Painted Desert of Coconino County, Arizona, but these peculiar short-pedunculate specimens from beyond the range of that species have the pale flowers of var. higginsii.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Ocreati > Astragalus flavus Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Ocreati > Astragalus flavus
Sibling taxa
A. flavus var. argillosus, A. flavus var. higginsii
A. flavus var. argillosus, A. flavus var. flavus
Name authority unknown S. L. Welsh in S. L. Welsh et al.: Utah Fl. ed. 3, 373. (2003)
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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