Astragalus mollissimus var. bigelovii |
Astragalus mollissimus var. mogollonicus |
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Bigelow's woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed |
Mogollon woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed |
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Habit | Plants shortly caulescent, robust. | Plants acaulescent, usually dwarf. |
Stems | (0 or)3–17 cm. |
reduced to thick crowns, closely invested with stipules. |
Leaves | 9–26 cm; stipules 6–20 mm; leaflets (13–)19–27, blades ovate, obovate, oval, or broadly elliptic, 6–25 mm. |
(4–)6–16 cm; stipules 5–12 mm; leaflets (9–)13–23, blades broadly elliptic to suborbiculate, 3–13 mm. |
Racemes | somewhat densely (15–)20–45-flowered, flowers subcontiguous or interrupted proximally; axis (4–)5–11 cm in fruit. |
densely 12–32-flowered; axis 1.5–6 cm in fruit. |
Peduncles | (5–)8–22 cm. |
scapiform, 4–10 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 10–15.3 mm, tube 6.6–8.5 × 3.2–5 mm, lobes 3.3–6.8 mm; corolla pink-purple; banner 16–21.5 mm; keel 12.5–14.5 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. |
± straight to gently incurved, narrowly ovoid or lunately ellipsoid, 9–13 × 4.5–6 mm, densely villous-tomentose, hairs to 1.6–2.6 mm; beak bilocular. |
Seeds | 20–31. |
19–28. |
2n | = 22. |
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Astragalus mollissimus var. bigelovii |
Astragalus mollissimus var. mogollonicus |
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Phenology | Flowering (Jan–)Mar–Jun. | Flowering Apr–Jul. |
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. | Stony flats and hilltops, on pebbly, volcanic soils of open ponderosa pine forests, on limestone substrates, rocky knolls in pinyon-juniper belt. |
Elevation | 1200–1900(–2300) m. (3900–6200(–7500) ft.) | 1800–2300 m. (5900–7500 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; NM; TX |
AZ; NM |
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.) |
D. Isely (1998) viewed var. mogollonicus as a reduced phase of var. bigelovii, but var. mogollonicus is distinguished by its acaulescent growth habit and scapiform peduncles. It occurs from the Kaibab Plateau south of the Grand Canyon in Arizona to the southeast along the Mogollon Escarpment to western 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. mogollonicus, A. bigelovii var. mogollonicus |
Name authority | (A. Gray) Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 13: 742. (1964) | (Greene) Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 13: 745. (1964) |
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