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Photo is of parent taxon

soda springs milkvetch, Sodaville milk vetch

Photo is of parent taxon

freckled milkvetch, straw milkvetch

Habit Plants perennial, to 70–80 cm. Plants perennial (short-lived), 12–40(–65) cm, herbage cinereous or green.
Stems

prostrate.

ashy canescent or green.

Leaves

2–5 cm;

leaflets 9–15(or 17), blades oblanceolate, 6–18 mm, terminal leaflet 7–15 mm, apex obtuse or subacute.

(2.5–)4–11(–13) cm;

leaflets (9 or)11–15, blades broadly oblanceolate or obovate-cuneate, (3–)5–18 mm, apex openly notched.

Racemes

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

axis 1–2 cm in fruit.

loosely or remotely 15–25(–30)-flowered, lax and open in fruit;

axis 5–18 cm in fruit.

Peduncles

1.5–4 cm.

3.5–9 cm.

Flowers

14–14.5 mm;

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

corolla purple.

11–12 mm;

calyx 5–6.6 mm, tube 3.8–4.5 mm, lobes 1.2–2.1 mm;

corolla pale purple.

Legumes

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

beak incurved, 4–8 mm, unilocular.

greenish, usually mottled, becoming stramineous, obliquely ovoid-acuminate, bladdery-inflated, (10–)17–26 × 10–16 mm, bilocular, somewhat stiffly papery, opaque, strigulose;

beak (2–)3–7 mm, unilocular.

Seeds

12–20.

20–26.

Astragalus lentiginosus var. sesquimetralis

Astragalus lentiginosus var. stramineus

Phenology Flowering May–Jun. Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Saline, seasonally moist clay flats, around seeps and springs. Mixed warm-desert shrub communities.
Elevation 900–1400 m. (3000–4600 ft.) 900–1000 m. (3000–3300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NV; UT
[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 stramineus is the only member of the species with moderate-sized, pale purple flowers known to occur in Washington County in Utah, and adjacent Arizona and Nevada; it is similar to the slightly smaller-flowered var. fremontii and to var. ambiguus.

(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. 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. sesquimetralis, A. lentiginosus var. sierrae, 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 Cystium stramineum
Name authority (Rydberg) Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 4: 116. (1945) (Rydberg) Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 4: 122. (1945)
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