Astragalus kentrophyta var. tegetarius |
Astragalus kentrophyta var. coloradoensis |
|
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mat milk vetch, mountain kentrophyta |
Canyonlands kentrophyta, Colorado spiny milkvetch |
|
Habit | Plants prostrate, cushion-forming, 5–40(–50) cm wide. | Plants loosely mat- or clump-forming, low, to 12 cm. |
Stems | and herbage densely to sparsely strigulose, villosulous, or villous, hairs basifixed. |
and herbage strigulose, hairs malpighian. |
Leaves | (0.2–)0.4–1.5(–2) cm; stipules 2–7 mm; leaflets (3 or)5–9, blades 1–9 mm, surfaces pubescent or adaxially glabrous or medially glabrescent. |
0.9–2.4 cm; stipules 1–12 mm; leaflets (3 or)5(or 7), blades 4–15 mm, surfaces pubescent. |
Peduncles | 0–1.5(–3) cm. |
0.2–0.6 cm. |
Flowers | (3.9–)4.5–8(–9.2) mm; calyx (2–)2.4–5.7(–7) mm, tube 1.2–2.6(–2.8) mm, lobes subulate to setaceous, (0.5–)1.9–2.6(–4.2) mm; corolla usually purple or purplish, sometimes white and keel tip pink or purplish. |
7.3–10 mm; calyx 6–8.3 mm, tube 2.4–3.3 mm, lobes subulate, spinulose, 3.4–5 mm; corolla pink-purple. |
Legumes | ellipsoid or oblong-ellipsoid, (3–)4–8(–9) × (0.6–)2–2.5 mm. |
subsymmetrically ellipsoid, lanceoloid- or oblong-ellipsoid, (5–)7–10 × 2.8–4 mm. |
Seeds | (3–)5–8. |
4–8. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Astragalus kentrophyta var. tegetarius |
Astragalus kentrophyta var. coloradoensis |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Sep. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Ridgetops, breaks, alpine shrub and tundra with Phlox, Geum rossii, other forbs, grasses, less commonly with shrubs and trees, often in barrens. | Sandy wash bottoms, sandy pockets on sandstone rimrock, in mixed desert shrub communities. |
Elevation | 2000–3700 m. (6600–12100 ft.) | 900–1700 m. (3000–5600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY |
AZ; UT |
Discussion | The moderately large, usually purplish flowers borne just above the mat of foliage set var. tegetarius apart and make it one of the showiest phases of the species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Variety coloradoensis is known from north-central Arizona and south-central Utah. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. tegetarius, A. aculeatus, A. kentrophyta subsp. implexus, A. kentrophyta var. implexus, A. kentrophyta var. rotundus, A. montanus var. rotundus, A. montanus var. tegetarius, A. tegetarius var. implexus, A. tegetarius var. rotundus, Homalobus aculeatus, H. tegetarius, H. wolfii, Kentrophyta aculeata, K. minima, K. rotunda, K. tegetaria, K. wolfii, Tragacantha tegetaria | |
Name authority | (S. Watson) Dorn: Vasc. Pl. Wyoming, 297. (1988) | M. E. Jones: Contr. W. Bot. 10: 63. (1902) |
Web links |