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Photo is of parent taxon

Mount Dana kentrophyta, spiny milkvetch, Sweetwater Mountains. milk vetch

Photo is of parent taxon

spiny milkvetch

Habit Plants prostrate, mat- or cushion-forming, to 15 cm wide. Plants decumbent, loosely mat-forming.
Stems

and herbage strigulose, hairs basifixed.

and herbage strigulose, hairs basifixed or obscurely malpighian.

Leaves

0.4–1.5(–2) cm;

stipules somewhat dimorphic, 2–7 mm;

leaflets 3(–7), blades 3–7 mm.

(0.7–)1–2.5 cm;

stipules dimorphic, those at proximal nodes connate into short, bidentate sheath, those at distal nodes longer, connate at base only, lanceolate or lanceolate-acuminate, often without spines, 2–7 mm;

leaflets 5 or 7, blades 7–12 mm, surfaces pubescent abaxially, glabrous or glabrescent adaxially.

Peduncles

0.2–0.6 cm.

subobsolete to 0.2 cm.

Flowers

4–5.6 mm;

calyx 2.4–3.2 mm, tube 1.6–1.9 mm, lobes subulate to setaceous, 0.8–1.3 mm;

corolla purple or whitish and keel purple.

4–5.5 mm;

calyx 3.4–4 mm, tube 1.9–2.4 mm, lobes subulate to setaceous, 1.4–2 mm;

corolla whitish.

Legumes

subsymmetrically lenticular, 3.5–5 × 2–2.5 mm.

subsymmetrically ovoid-lenticular, (3.5–)4–7 × 2.4–3.8 mm.

Seeds

5–8.

2 or 3(or 4).

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Astragalus kentrophyta var. danaus

Astragalus kentrophyta var. kentrophyta

Phenology Flowering Jul–Sep. Flowering Jun–Sep.
Habitat Gravelly slopes and talus upward from timberline, or in bristle-cone pine forest. Bluffs, dunes, gullied ridges in badlands.
Elevation 3000–4000 m. (9800–13100 ft.) 1200–1600 m. (3900–5200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; MT; ND; NE; SD; WY; AB; SK
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety danaus is restricted to high elevations in the southern Sierra Nevada.

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

Variety kentrophyta is a taxon of the High Plains from southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan through eastern Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, the western Dakotas, and western Nebraska.

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

Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Ervoidei > Astragalus kentrophyta Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Ervoidei > Astragalus kentrophyta
Sibling taxa
A. kentrophyta var. coloradoensis, A. kentrophyta var. douglasii, A. kentrophyta var. elatus, A. kentrophyta var. jessiae, A. kentrophyta var. kentrophyta, A. kentrophyta var. neomexicanus, A. kentrophyta var. tegetarius, A. kentrophyta var. ungulatus
A. kentrophyta var. coloradoensis, A. kentrophyta var. danaus, A. kentrophyta var. douglasii, A. kentrophyta var. elatus, A. kentrophyta var. jessiae, A. kentrophyta var. neomexicanus, A. kentrophyta var. tegetarius, A. kentrophyta var. ungulatus
Synonyms A. tegetarius var. danaus
Name authority (Barneby) Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 6: 154. (1951) unknown
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