Astragalus lentiginosus var. higginsii |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. mokiacensis |
|
---|---|---|
Higgins' freckled milkvetch, Higgins' milkvetch |
mokiak milkvetch |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, 15–25 cm. | Plants perennial, 20–60 cm, herbage green or subglabrescent. |
Leaves | 3–11 cm; leaflets 15–21, blades lanceolate-elliptic to obovate, 8–18 mm, apex emarginate. |
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 | 7–17-flowered, short and compact in fruit; axis 1–4 cm in fruit. |
loosely 12–20-flowered; axis elongating, 3.5–18(–22) cm in fruit. |
Peduncles | 3–6.5 cm. |
4–11(–14) cm. |
Flowers | 17–20 mm; calyx 7–10.4 mm, tube 6–6.8 mm, lobes 3–3.5 mm; corolla pale violet. |
(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 | green, sometimes mottled, becoming stramineous, ovoid, greatly inflated, 19–27 × 11–16(–19) mm, semibilocular, stiffly papery, thinly translucent, glabrous. |
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 | 30–35. |
(22–)25–36. |
2n | = 22. |
|
Astragalus lentiginosus var. higginsii |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. mokiacensis |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–early Jun. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Sandy to loamy soils, with Ptelea-Rhus-Prosopis, and yucca, oak, mesquite communities. | Limestone on outcrops and gravel, on basaltic or granitic gravel and/or outcrops, with Hymenoclea, bursage, Joshua tree, Larrea, and Ferocactus. |
Elevation | 800–1100 m. (2600–3600 ft.) | 700–1800 m. (2300–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
NM; TX |
AZ; NV; UT |
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.) |
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 | S. L. Welsh & K. H. Thorne: Brittonia 33: 296, fig. 2. (1981) | (A. Gray) M. E. Jones: Rev. N.-Amer. Astragalus, 126. (1923) |
Web links |