Astragalus lentiginosus var. floribundus |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. platyphyllidius |
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Carson city milkvetch, floriferous freckled milkvetch, floriferous milk vetch, freckled milkvetch |
broad-leaf freckled milkvetch, broad-leaf milkvetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, 20–50 cm. | Plants perennial, (7–)10–30(–35) cm. |
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. |
(4–)5–11 cm; leaflets (7–)11–17(or 19), blades usually broadly obovate-cuneate, elliptic, or suborbiculate, rarely rhombic-elliptic, (4–)7–20 mm, apex usually obtuse, retuse, truncate, or apiculate, rarely acute. |
Racemes | (11–)15–30(–37)-flowered, short and dense, cylindric or globose in fruit; axis 1–4(–7) cm in fruit. |
shortly and loosely (5–)7–15-flowered, flowering from near or proximal to middle nodes, short and compact in fruit; axis little elongating, 1–3.5 cm in fruit. |
Peduncles | 1–4(–7) cm. |
1–5 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. |
(12.6–)14–21.4 mm; calyx (8–)8.5–12.5 mm, tube (5–)5.5–8(–9) mm, lobes 2.4–5 mm; corolla usually whitish, rarely purple. |
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. |
variable in length, outline, and curvature, pale green or purple-speckled becoming stramineous or brownish, plumply ovoid or narrowly lanceoloid-ellipsoid, (13–)15–40(–48) × 7–14 mm, ± bilocular, strongly or slightly inflated, ± fleshy becoming leathery or stiffly papery, usually glabrous, sometimes minutely strigulose; beak deltoid or lanceolate-acuminate, 5–15 mm, unilocular. |
Seeds | 15–21(–25). |
(21–)24–32(–38). |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. floribundus |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. platyphyllidius |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Jun. | Flowering May–Jul. |
Habitat | Sagebrush communities, on sandy, granitic, or basaltic substrates. | Arid plains, hillsides, and valley floors, on basalt, with sagebrush. |
Elevation | 1100–1600(–2100) m. (3600–5200(–6900) ft.) | 600–1900(–2100) m. (2000–6200(–6900) ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; NV; OR |
CA; CO; ID; NV; OR; UT; WY |
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.) |
Variety platyphyllidius is dispersed widely from eastern Oregon and northeastern California, across southern Idaho into western Wyoming, northeastern Nevada, and barely into northern Utah and northwestern Colorado. It is apparently common only locally, distinguished by its typically pale flowers and thick-textured fruits (approximate length of two times width or less). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Cystium platyphyllidium, A. lentiginosus var. cornutus, A. merrillii, C. cornutum, C. merrillii | |
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 6: 524. (1865) | (Rydberg) M. Peck: Man. Pl. Oregon, 449. (1941) — (as platyphyllidium) |
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