Astragalus mollissimus var. bigelovii |
Astragalus mollissimus var. earlei |
|
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Bigelow's woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed |
Earle's woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed |
|
Habit | Plants shortly caulescent, robust. | Plants subacaulescent or shortly caulescent. |
Stems | (0 or)3–17 cm. |
to 10(–16) cm. |
Leaves | 9–26 cm; stipules 6–20 mm; leaflets (13–)19–27, blades ovate, obovate, oval, or broadly elliptic, 6–25 mm. |
8–32 cm; stipules 5–15 mm; leaflets 19–35, blades oblanceolate, rhombic-ovate, or rhombic-obovate, (5–)10–30(–45) mm. |
Racemes | somewhat densely (15–)20–45-flowered, flowers subcontiguous or interrupted proximally; axis (4–)5–11 cm in fruit. |
15–36-flowered; axis elongating, 4–15 cm in fruit. |
Peduncles | (5–)8–22 cm. |
(5–)8–17 cm. |
Flowers | calyx 10.5–13.5 cm, tube (8–)8.3–10.3 × (3.2–)4–5.2 mm, lobes (1.7–)2.6–4.4 mm; corolla pink-purple; banner 17–22.5 mm; keel 13.5–18.5 mm. |
calyx (8.5–)8.8–10.5 mm, tube (4.5–)5–7 × 0.8–3(–3.2) mm, lobes 2.4–4 mm; corolla pink-purple or yellowish tipped and suffused or margined with dull purple; banner 12–17.5 mm; keel 9–13 mm. |
Legumes | gently incurved or ± straight, ovoid-acuminate or lanceoloid-ellipsoid, sometimes slightly turgid, 10–15 × (4–)4.5–8 mm, stiffly papery or leathery, densely villous-tomentulose, hairs to 1–1.6 mm; beak bilocular. |
± incurved, abruptly contracted distally, obliquely ovoid-ellipsoid or lanceoloid-ellipsoid, 9–14 × 4–6.5(–9) mm, usually sparsely villous-tomentulose or loosely strigulose, rarely glabrate or glabrous, hairs ascending and almost straight, or subappressed and curly, less than 1 mm; beak bilocular. |
Seeds | 20–31. |
20–30. |
2n | = 22. |
= 22, 24. |
Astragalus mollissimus var. bigelovii |
Astragalus mollissimus var. earlei |
|
Phenology | Flowering (Jan–)Mar–Jun. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Dry plains and foothills, in desert- or mesquite-grasslands, among junipers, on calcareous soils, sandy loams, basalt gravel, over-grazed and badly eroded cattle ranges. | Dry hills and grassy plains, on volcanic and calcareous soils. |
Elevation | 1200–1900(–2300) m. (3900–6200(–7500) ft.) | 1100–1800 m. (3600–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; NM; TX |
NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua) |
Discussion | Variety bigelovii is known from extreme western Texas to southeastern Arizona and in New Mexico as far north as Socorro County and the Plains of San Augustin in Catron County. D. Isely (1998) recognized var. bigelovii at the species level, and included with it vars. marcidus, matthewsii, and mogollonicus, primarily on the basis of the completely bilocular fruits. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Within the flora area, var. earlei is a plant common in the trans-Pecos region of Texas and southeastern New Mexico. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 11. | FNA vol. 11. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. bigelovii | A. earlei |
Name authority | (A. Gray) Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 13: 742. (1964) | (Greene ex Rydberg) Tidestrom: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 48: 40. (1935) |
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