Astragalus lentiginosus var. floribundus |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. mokiacensis |
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Carson city milkvetch, floriferous freckled milkvetch, floriferous milk vetch, freckled milkvetch |
mokiak milkvetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, 20–50 cm. | Plants perennial, 20–60 cm, herbage green or subglabrescent. |
Stems | prostrate to weakly ascending, branched proximally. |
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Leaves | 3–8(–11) cm; leaflets 11–15(–19), blades obovate or oblanceolate, 5–15 mm, apex retuse, surfaces glabrate to densely strigulose, hairs appressed or subappressed. |
3–10(–13) cm; leaflets (7 or)9–17(–21), blades broadly obovate-obcordate, lanceolate, elliptic, or suborbiculate-obcordate, 5–13(–19) mm, apex emarginate or retuse to truncate, adaxial surface glabrous. |
Racemes | (11–)15–30(–37)-flowered, short and dense, cylindric or globose in fruit; axis 1–4(–7) cm in fruit. |
loosely 12–20-flowered; axis elongating, 3.5–18(–22) cm in fruit. |
Peduncles | 1–4(–7) cm. |
4–11(–14) cm. |
Flowers | 8.8–11 mm; calyx 4–6.5 mm, tube 3–4 mm, lobes 0.6–1.4(–2) mm; corolla whitish, sometimes wings and keel with lavender tips. |
(10–)14–18(–19) mm; calyx 5–8(–9.2) mm, tube (3.5–)4–6.5 mm, lobes 1–2(–2.7) mm; corolla pink- to red-purple, usually with pale or white wing tips. |
Legumes | faintly mottled becoming stramineous, obliquely ovoid or subglobose, strongly inflated, (8–)12–21 × (6–)7–12 mm, thinly papery, translucent, glabrous or strigulose; beak 3–7 mm, unilocular. |
dehiscent on plant, usually ascending-erect to ascending, rarely spreading, green becoming stramineous, usually ± straight to incurved, rarely decurved, oblong-ellipsoid, not or scarcely inflated, slightly turgid, 14–28(–32) × 4.5–6.5 mm, ± bilocular, somewhat fleshy becoming leathery or stiffly papery, glabrous or minutely pubescent; beak 3–4 mm, unilocular. |
Seeds | 15–21(–25). |
(22–)25–36. |
2n | = 22. |
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Astragalus lentiginosus var. floribundus |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. mokiacensis |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Sagebrush communities, on sandy, granitic, or basaltic substrates. | Limestone on outcrops and gravel, on basaltic or granitic gravel and/or outcrops, with Hymenoclea, bursage, Joshua tree, Larrea, and Ferocactus. |
Elevation | 1100–1600(–2100) m. (3600–5200(–6900) ft.) | 700–1800 m. (2300–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; NV; OR |
AZ; NV; UT |
Discussion | Variety floribundus is the only member of Astragalus lentiginosus in the Lake Tahoe area; it occurs along the eastern flanks of the Sierra Nevada, passing into var. ineptus in Mono County, and extends northward into southeastern Oregon, where it grades into var. salinus. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The placement of var. mokiacensis has challenged generations of botanists. R. C. Barneby (1945) regarded var. mokiacensis as part of the lentiginosus complex but later (Barneby 1964) recognized it as a species within sect. Preussiani. In Washington County in Utah, var. mokiacensis has been consistently confused with var. palans. S. L. Welsh (2007) extensively discussed problems revolving around interpretation and distinction of var. mokiacensis. J. A. Alexander (2005) considered the taxon to be best recognized at the species level, as A. mokiacensis, the persistent fruit being otherwise unknown in A. lentiginosus. Alexander also presented a key to similar taxa and to minor variants within A. mokiacensis. As recognized here, the variety is found in Washington County in southwestern Utah, northwestern Mohave County in Arizona, and eastern Clark County in Nevada. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. mokiacensis, A. lentiginosus var. ursinus | |
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 6: 524. (1865) | (A. Gray) M. E. Jones: Rev. N.-Amer. Astragalus, 126. (1923) |
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