Astragalus lentiginosus var. platyphyllidius |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. negundo |
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broad-leaf freckled milkvetch, broad-leaf milkvetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, (7–)10–30(–35) cm. | Plants perennial, 19–32 cm. |
Stems | diffuse and incurved-ascending, often red- or purple-tinged. |
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Leaves | (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. |
(2.5–)4–11 cm; leaflets (7–)13–19, blades elliptic-oblanceolate, broadly oblong-oblanceolate, or obovate, (2–)5–17 mm, apex obtuse or emarginate. |
Racemes | 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. |
5–11-flowered, flowering from middle and distally, short and compact in fruit; axis 0.5–5 cm in fruit. |
Peduncles | 1–5 cm. |
2.2–5 cm. |
Flowers | (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. |
12.5–14.5 mm; calyx 7.5–10.2 mm, tube 5.2–5.8 mm, lobes 1.8–4.4 mm; corolla bright pink-purple with pale, striate eye. |
Legumes | 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. |
purplish, often red-mottled, becoming stramineous, ellipsoid to lanceoloid-ovoid or ellipsoid-acuminate, moderately inflated, 23–34 × 6–15 mm, bilocular, stiffly papery or almost leathery, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent; beak well-defined, triangular or deltoid, 7–12 mm, unilocular. |
Seeds | (21–)24–32(–38). |
40. |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. platyphyllidius |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. negundo |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Jul. | Flowering late Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Arid plains, hillsides, and valley floors, on basalt, with sagebrush. | Salt and sand desert shrub communities with shadscale, greasewood, sagebrush, and horsebrush, in pinyon-juniper communities. |
Elevation | 600–1900(–2100) m. (2000–6200(–6900) ft.) | 1400–1700(–2300) m. (4600–5600(–7500) ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; CO; ID; NV; OR; UT; WY |
UT |
Discussion | 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.) |
Variety negundo, which is known from Box Elder, Millard, and Tooele counties, fills a portion of the gap in distribution between var. platyphyllidius, with which it shares relatively thick-textured fruits, and var. chartaceus, with which it is transitional to the south. From either taxon, the elongated fruit is evidently diagnostic, apparent only as fruits approach maturity. The lower flower number is characteristic of var. negundo and is more or less diagnostic. (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 | (Rydberg) M. Peck: Man. Pl. Oregon, 449. (1941) — (as platyphyllidium) | S. L. Welsh & N. D. Atwood in S. L. Welsh: N. Amer. Sp. Astragalus, 302, fig. 285u. (2007) |
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