Astragalus lentiginosus var. platyphyllidius |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. sesquimetralis |
|
---|---|---|
broad-leaf freckled milkvetch, broad-leaf milkvetch |
soda springs milkvetch, Sodaville milk vetch |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, (7–)10–30(–35) cm. | Plants perennial, to 70–80 cm. |
Stems | prostrate. |
|
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 cm; leaflets 9–15(or 17), blades oblanceolate, 6–18 mm, terminal leaflet 7–15 mm, apex obtuse or subacute. |
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. |
shortly and loosely 6–12-flowered, short and compact in fruit; axis 1–2 cm in fruit. |
Peduncles | 1–5 cm. |
1.5–4 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. |
14–14.5 mm; calyx 7–8 mm, tube 4.8–5.5 mm, lobes 2.2–2.5 mm; corolla purple. |
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. |
mottled, ovoid or broadly lanceoloid, moderately inflated, 16–26 × 9–12 mm, semibilocular, stiffly papery, strigulose; beak incurved, 4–8 mm, unilocular. |
Seeds | (21–)24–32(–38). |
12–20. |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. platyphyllidius |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. sesquimetralis |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Jul. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Arid plains, hillsides, and valley floors, on basalt, with sagebrush. | Saline, seasonally moist clay flats, around seeps and springs. |
Elevation | 600–1900(–2100) m. (2000–6200(–6900) ft.) | 900–1400 m. (3000–4600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; CO; ID; NV; OR; UT; WY |
CA; NV |
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.) |
The branches of var. sesquimetralis radiate, forming large, round plants that hug the ground. This habit, coupled with a long season of available water, is evidently conducive to long-continuing flowering and fruiting but is not necessarily an indication of a near relationship to other taxa that are similar (see discussion under 285c. var. multiracemosus). The variety is restricted to southern Mineral County, Nevada, and northern Inyo County, California. (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 | Cystium sesquimetrale |
Name authority | (Rydberg) M. Peck: Man. Pl. Oregon, 449. (1941) — (as platyphyllidium) | (Rydberg) Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 4: 116. (1945) |
Web links |