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Photo is of parent taxon

Higgins' freckled milkvetch, Higgins' milkvetch

Photo is of parent taxon

broadleaf milkvetch, cobweb milkvetch

Habit Plants perennial, 15–25 cm. Plants perennial, 10–35 cm.
Stems

diffuse and incurved-ascending, often red-tinged.

Leaves

3–11 cm;

leaflets 15–21, blades lanceolate-elliptic to obovate, 8–18 mm, apex emarginate.

(2.5–)4–11 cm;

leaflets (9 or)11–23, blades elliptic-oblanceolate, broadly oblong-oblanceolate, or obovate, (3–)5–17(–20) mm, apex obtuse or emarginate.

Racemes

7–17-flowered, short and compact in fruit;

axis 1–4 cm in fruit.

(5–)10–20-flowered, flowering from middle and distally, short and compact in fruit;

axis (0.5–)1.5–4(–5.5) cm in fruit.

Peduncles

3–6.5 cm.

(1–)2.5–6(–7.5) cm.

Flowers

17–20 mm;

calyx 7–10.4 mm, tube 6–6.8 mm, lobes 3–3.5 mm;

corolla pale violet.

(12.5–)15–18.2 mm;

calyx (6.2–)7.5–10.5 mm, tube (4.6–)5.2–6.7 mm, lobes 1.4–3.8 mm;

corolla bright pink-purple with pale, striate eye.

Legumes

green, sometimes mottled, becoming stramineous, ovoid, greatly inflated, 19–27 × 11–16(–19) mm, semibilocular, stiffly papery, thinly translucent, glabrous.

green, often red-mottled, becoming stramineous, usually strongly incurved, ovoid, lanceoloid-ovoid, or ovoid-acuminate, moderately inflated, 15–30(–40) × (7–)9–15 mm, bilocular, stiffly papery or almost leathery, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent;

beak well-defined, triangular or deltoid, 6–15 mm, unilocular.

Seeds

30–35.

24–34(–38).

Astragalus lentiginosus var. higginsii

Astragalus lentiginosus var. chartaceus

Phenology Flowering Apr–early Jun. Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Sandy to loamy soils, with Ptelea-Rhus-Prosopis, and yucca, oak, mesquite com­munities. Sagebrush, pinyon-juniper, and mixed desert shrub communities, on alluvial silt, igne­ous gravel.
Elevation 800–1100 m. (2600–3600 ft.) 1400–2200 m. (4600–7200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
NM; TX
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NV; UT
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety higginsii, from Chaves County in New Mexico, and Hudspeth, Hutchinson, and Potter counties in Texas, almost certainly is a derivative of var. diphysus, differing only in its pale flowers.

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

Variety chartaceus is widespread from central to western Utah into northeastern and central Nevada, there intergrading with vars. fremontii, kennedyi, and toyabensis. S. L. Welsh (2007) discussed the problems of including this variety in an expanded var. diphysus and its complex relationships to other varieties.

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

Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Diphysi > Astragalus lentiginosus Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Diphysi > Astragalus lentiginosus
Sibling taxa
A. lentiginosus var. albifolius, A. lentiginosus var. ambiguus, A. lentiginosus var. antonius, A. lentiginosus var. australis, A. lentiginosus var. chartaceus, A. lentiginosus var. coachellae, A. lentiginosus var. coulteri, A. lentiginosus var. diphysus, A. lentiginosus var. floribundus, A. lentiginosus var. fremontii, A. lentiginosus var. idriensis, A. lentiginosus var. ineptus, A. lentiginosus var. kennedyi, A. lentiginosus var. kernensis, A. lentiginosus var. latus, A. lentiginosus var. lentiginosus, A. lentiginosus var. macrolobus, A. lentiginosus var. maricopae, A. lentiginosus var. micans, A. lentiginosus var. mokiacensis, A. lentiginosus var. multiracemosus, A. lentiginosus var. negundo, A. lentiginosus var. nigricalycis, A. lentiginosus var. oropedii, A. lentiginosus var. palans, A. lentiginosus var. piscinensis, A. lentiginosus var. platyphyllidius, A. lentiginosus var. pohlii, A. lentiginosus var. salinus, A. lentiginosus var. scorpionis, A. lentiginosus var. semotus, A. lentiginosus var. sesquimetralis, A. lentiginosus var. sierrae, A. lentiginosus var. stramineus, A. lentiginosus var. toyabensis, A. lentiginosus var. trumbullensis, A. lentiginosus var. variabilis, A. lentiginosus var. vitreus, A. lentiginosus var. wahweapensis, A. lentiginosus var. wilsonii, A. lentiginosus var. yuccanus
A. lentiginosus var. albifolius, A. lentiginosus var. ambiguus, A. lentiginosus var. antonius, A. lentiginosus var. australis, A. lentiginosus var. coachellae, A. lentiginosus var. coulteri, A. lentiginosus var. diphysus, A. lentiginosus var. floribundus, A. lentiginosus var. fremontii, A. lentiginosus var. higginsii, A. lentiginosus var. idriensis, A. lentiginosus var. ineptus, A. lentiginosus var. kennedyi, A. lentiginosus var. kernensis, A. lentiginosus var. latus, A. lentiginosus var. lentiginosus, A. lentiginosus var. macrolobus, A. lentiginosus var. maricopae, A. lentiginosus var. micans, A. lentiginosus var. mokiacensis, A. lentiginosus var. multiracemosus, A. lentiginosus var. negundo, A. lentiginosus var. nigricalycis, A. lentiginosus var. oropedii, A. lentiginosus var. palans, A. lentiginosus var. piscinensis, A. lentiginosus var. platyphyllidius, A. lentiginosus var. pohlii, A. lentiginosus var. salinus, A. lentiginosus var. scorpionis, A. lentiginosus var. semotus, A. lentiginosus var. sesquimetralis, A. lentiginosus var. sierrae, A. lentiginosus var. stramineus, A. lentiginosus var. toyabensis, A. lentiginosus var. trumbullensis, A. lentiginosus var. variabilis, A. lentiginosus var. vitreus, A. lentiginosus var. wahweapensis, A. lentiginosus var. wilsonii, A. lentiginosus var. yuccanus
Synonyms A. araneosus, A. lentiginosus var. araneosus
Name authority S. L. Welsh & K. H. Thorne: Brittonia 33: 296, fig. 2. (1981) M. E. Jones: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 2, 5: 673. (1895)
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