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Photo is of parent taxon

prostrate milkvetch, reclining weedy milkvetch

Photo is of parent taxon

woodlands weedy milkvetch, woody milkvetch

Herbage

strigulose, hairs obscurely malpighian, silvery-silky, ± straight.

strigulose-pilosulous, hairs basifixed.

Stems

1–15(–22) cm.

1–15 cm.

Leaves

1.5–9(–12) cm;

leaflets (7 or)9–15(or 17), blades narrowly elliptic to oval-lanceolate, leaflets subtending racemes more broadly elliptic or oblanceolate, (2–)4–16(–20) mm, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces pubescent;

terminal leaflet decurrent or jointed.

(3–)4.5–19 cm;

leaflets (9 or)11–21, blades narrowly to broadly elliptic, lanceolate, or lanceolate-oblong, (3–)5–26 mm, apex acute, obtuse, obtuse and apiculate, or, rarely, retuse, surfaces glabrous or sparsely pubescent.

Racemes

(4–)7–17-flowered;

axis 1–3(–4) cm in fruit.

(3–)6–16-flowered;

axis (1–)1.5–7(–7.5) cm in fruit.

Flowers

calyx 2.8–4.3 mm, tube 1.8–2.5 mm, lobes 0.9–1.9 mm;

corolla usually pink-purple, purplish, bluish, or dull purple, sometimes pallid or whitish, except maculate keel;

banner 6.9–9.6 mm;

keel 6.2–7.8 mm.

calyx (3.8–)4–5.6 mm, tube 2.6–3.5 mm, lobes (0.9–)1–2.3 mm;

corolla whitish, sometimes purple-veined;

banner (5.2–)6.5–13 mm;

keel (7.1–)8–10(–11.4) mm.

Legumes

linear-oblong or -oblanceoloid, (12–)14–21 × 2.2–3.3 mm.

linear, linear-ellipsoid, or -oblanceoloid, (15–)18–25 × 2.5–4 mm, usually glabrous, rarely with few, scattered hairs.

Seeds

12–18.

(6 or)7–11.

Astragalus miser var. decumbens

Astragalus miser var. hylophilus

Phenology Flowering May–Aug. Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Banks, hillsides, bluffs, ridge crests, with sagebrush, with limber pine and juniper. Meadows, banks, open park­lands with lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir, and ponderosa pine.
Elevation 1100–2600 m. (3600–8500 ft.) 900–2900 m. (3000–9500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; WY
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID; MT; SD; WY
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety decumbens occurs from southern Montana on the Yellowstone River, southward (mostly eastward of the Continental Divide except on upper Green River) to central Wyoming.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Variety hylophilus occurs in the Rocky Mountains of western Wyoming and western Montana (and immediately adjoining Idaho), and the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Variety hylophilus is sympatric, in part, with vars. crispatus, miser, and tenuifolius. Its distinction may be preserved by ecological isolation; of the four varieties it is the most mesic, whereas the others are more xerophytic (D. Isely 1998).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Genistoidei > Astragalus miser Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Genistoidei > Astragalus miser
Sibling taxa
A. miser var. crispatus, A. miser var. hylophilus, A. miser var. miser, A. miser var. oblongifolius, A. miser var. praeteritus, A. miser var. serotinus, A. miser var. tenuifolius
A. miser var. crispatus, A. miser var. decumbens, A. miser var. miser, A. miser var. oblongifolius, A. miser var. praeteritus, A. miser var. serotinus, A. miser var. tenuifolius
Synonyms Homalobus decumbens Homalobus hylophilus
Name authority (Nuttall) Cronquist: Leafl. W. Bot. 7: 18. (1953) (Rydberg) Barneby: Amer. Midl. Naturalist 55: 482. (1956)
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