Astragalus lentiginosus var. sesquimetralis |
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soda springs milkvetch, Sodaville milk vetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, to 70–80 cm. |
Stems | prostrate. |
Leaves | 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 6–12-flowered, short and compact in fruit; axis 1–2 cm in fruit. |
Peduncles | 1.5–4 cm. |
Flowers | 14–14.5 mm; calyx 7–8 mm, tube 4.8–5.5 mm, lobes 2.2–2.5 mm; corolla purple. |
Legumes | mottled, ovoid or broadly lanceoloid, moderately inflated, 16–26 × 9–12 mm, semibilocular, stiffly papery, strigulose; beak incurved, 4–8 mm, unilocular. |
Seeds | 12–20. |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. sesquimetralis |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Saline, seasonally moist clay flats, around seeps and springs. |
Elevation | 900–1400 m. (3000–4600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; NV |
Discussion | 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. |
Parent taxa | |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | Cystium sesquimetrale |
Name authority | (Rydberg) Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 4: 116. (1945) |
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