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Photo is of parent taxon

soda springs milkvetch, Sodaville milk vetch

Photo is of parent taxon

Higgins' freckled milkvetch, Higgins' milkvetch

Habit Plants perennial, to 70–80 cm. Plants perennial, 15–25 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.

3–11 cm;

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

Racemes

shortly and loosely 6–12-flowered, short and compact in fruit;

axis 1–2 cm in fruit.

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

axis 1–4 cm in fruit.

Peduncles

1.5–4 cm.

3–6.5 cm.

Flowers

14–14.5 mm;

calyx 7–8 mm, tube 4.8–5.5 mm, lobes 2.2–2.5 mm;

corolla purple.

17–20 mm;

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

corolla pale violet.

Legumes

mottled, ovoid or broadly lanceoloid, moderately inflated, 16–26 × 9–12 mm, semibilocular, stiffly papery, strigulose;

beak incurved, 4–8 mm, unilocular.

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

Seeds

12–20.

30–35.

Astragalus lentiginosus var. sesquimetralis

Astragalus lentiginosus var. higginsii

Phenology Flowering May–Jun. Flowering Apr–early Jun.
Habitat Saline, seasonally moist clay flats, around seeps and springs. Sandy to loamy soils, with Ptelea-Rhus-Prosopis, and yucca, oak, mesquite com­munities.
Elevation 900–1400 m. (3000–4600 ft.) 800–1100 m. (2600–3600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NM; TX
[BONAP county map]
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.)

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.)

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. 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. 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. 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. 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
Synonyms Cystium sesquimetrale
Name authority (Rydberg) Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 4: 116. (1945) S. L. Welsh & K. H. Thorne: Brittonia 33: 296, fig. 2. (1981)
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