Astragalus lentiginosus var. vitreus |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. mokiacensis |
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freckled milkvetch, glass freckled milkvetch |
mokiak milkvetch |
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Habit | Plants perennial, 15–40 cm. | Plants perennial, 20–60 cm, herbage green or subglabrescent. |
Stems | glabrous or glabrate. |
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Leaves | 4.5–10 cm; leaflets (7–)13–19, blades obovate-cuneate or oblong-obovate, (5–)7–17(–21) mm, apex obtuse or truncate-emarginate. |
3–10(–13) cm; leaflets (7 or)9–17(–21), blades broadly obovate-obcordate, lanceolate, elliptic, or suborbiculate-obcordate, 5–13(–19) mm, apex emarginate or retuse to truncate, adaxial surface glabrous. |
Racemes | loosely (10–)15–27-flowered, lax and open in fruit; axis 4–8.5 cm in fruit. |
loosely 12–20-flowered; axis elongating, 3.5–18(–22) cm in fruit. |
Peduncles | 4–9.5 cm. |
4–11(–14) cm. |
Flowers | 13.2–17 mm; calyx 6.5–8 mm, tube 4.6–5.7 mm, lobes (1.5–)1.7–2.3 mm; corolla pink-purple or lavender with white wing tips. |
(10–)14–18(–19) mm; calyx 5–8(–9.2) mm, tube (3.5–)4–6.5 mm, lobes 1–2(–2.7) mm; corolla pink- to red-purple, usually with pale or white wing tips. |
Legumes | pale green and unmottled turning pallid, usually broadly ovoid, rarely lunately lanceoloid-acuminate, usually strongly inflated, rarely less so, 15–25 × (7–)9–15 mm, papery-membranous, subtranslucent, lustrous, glabrous; beak triangular, short, unilocular. |
dehiscent on plant, usually ascending-erect to ascending, rarely spreading, green becoming stramineous, usually ± straight to incurved, rarely decurved, oblong-ellipsoid, not or scarcely inflated, slightly turgid, 14–28(–32) × 4.5–6.5 mm, ± bilocular, somewhat fleshy becoming leathery or stiffly papery, glabrous or minutely pubescent; beak 3–4 mm, unilocular. |
Seeds | 21–31. |
(22–)25–36. |
2n | = 22. |
= 22. |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. vitreus |
Astragalus lentiginosus var. mokiacensis |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Gullied badlands and desert flats, on sand or clay derived from sandstone or limestone, on volcanic gravel. | Limestone on outcrops and gravel, on basaltic or granitic gravel and/or outcrops, with Hymenoclea, bursage, Joshua tree, Larrea, and Ferocactus. |
Elevation | 800–1500(–2000) m. (2600–4900(–6600) ft.) | 700–1800 m. (2300–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; UT |
AZ; NV; UT |
Discussion | Variety vitreus is found in the valleys of the upper Virgin River and Kanab Creek, southward to the northern slope of the Kaibab Plateau, and Toroweap and House Rock valleys in eastern Washington and western Kane counties in Utah, and northern Mohave and northwestern Coconino counties in Arizona. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The placement of var. mokiacensis has challenged generations of botanists. R. C. Barneby (1945) regarded var. mokiacensis as part of the lentiginosus complex but later (Barneby 1964) recognized it as a species within sect. Preussiani. In Washington County in Utah, var. mokiacensis has been consistently confused with var. palans. S. L. Welsh (2007) extensively discussed problems revolving around interpretation and distinction of var. mokiacensis. J. A. Alexander (2005) considered the taxon to be best recognized at the species level, as A. mokiacensis, the persistent fruit being otherwise unknown in A. lentiginosus. Alexander also presented a key to similar taxa and to minor variants within A. mokiacensis. As recognized here, the variety is found in Washington County in southwestern Utah, northwestern Mohave County in Arizona, and eastern Clark County in Nevada. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. mokiacensis, A. lentiginosus var. ursinus | |
Name authority | Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 4: 119, plate 3, figs. 30–33. (1945) | (A. Gray) M. E. Jones: Rev. N.-Amer. Astragalus, 126. (1923) |
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