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Photo is of parent taxon

Higgins' freckled milkvetch, Higgins' milkvetch

Photo is of parent taxon

maricopa milkvetch

Habit Plants perennial, 15–25 cm. Plants perennial (short-lived), 45–65 cm, herbage green or subglabrescent.
Leaves

3–11 cm;

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

(4–)6–16 cm;

leaflets 17–25, blades ovate, broadly oval, oblong-elliptic, or obovate-cordate, (3–)5–22 mm, apex obtuse and apiculate or emarginate.

Racemes

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

axis 1–4 cm in fruit.

loosely 13–30-flowered;

axis elongating, (3–)5–20 cm in fruit.

Peduncles

3–6.5 cm.

5–14 cm.

Flowers

17–20 mm;

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

corolla pale violet.

15–16.5 mm;

calyx 7.2–8.6 mm, tube 5.6–6.4 mm, lobes 1.6–2.6 mm;

corolla ochroleucous (immaculate).

Legumes

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

green becoming stramineous, narrowly oblong- or linear-ellipsoid, not inflated, 20–30 × 3.7–5 mm, bilocular, somewhat fleshy becoming leathery or stiffly papery, glabrous;

beak 3–5 mm, unilocular.

Seeds

30–35.

22–26.

Astragalus lentiginosus var. higginsii

Astragalus lentiginosus var. maricopae

Phenology Flowering Apr–early Jun. Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Sandy to loamy soils, with Ptelea-Rhus-Prosopis, and yucca, oak, mesquite com­munities. Washes, roadsides with Larrea.
Elevation 800–1100 m. (2600–3600 ft.) 300–700 m. (1000–2300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
NM; TX
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ
[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 maricopae is common in the Cave Creek and Fish Creek areas in Maricopa County. In years with higher rainfall it is weedy in subdivisions where desert vegetation remains intact.

(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. chartaceus, 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. 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
Name authority S. L. Welsh & K. H. Thorne: Brittonia 33: 296, fig. 2. (1981) Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 4: 140. (1945)
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