The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links
Photo is of parent taxon

Cory's woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed

Photo is of parent taxon

Bigelow's woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed

Habit Plants usually shortly caulescent, sometimes subacaulescent. Plants shortly caulescent, robust.
Stems

2–25 cm, hairs spirally twisted, to 1.6–2.8 mm.

(0 or)3–17 cm.

Leaves

(4–)6–20 cm;

stipules (5–)7–15 mm;

leaflets (11–)17–25(–29), blades usually obovate or oblong-oval, sometimes rhombic-obovate, 5–18 mm.

9–26 cm;

stipules 6–20 mm;

leaflets (13–)19–27, blades ovate, obovate, oval, or broadly elliptic, 6–25 mm.

Racemes

densely 15–45-flowered;

axis 3.5–9 cm in fruit.

somewhat densely (15–)20–45-flowered, flowers subcontiguous or interrupted proximally;

axis (4–)5–11 cm in fruit.

Peduncles

8–21 cm.

(5–)8–22 cm.

Flowers

calyx 10.5–14 mm, tube 7–8.7 × 3–4 mm, lobes (3.3–)3.7–5.5 mm;

corolla cream;

banner (14.4–)15–20.3 mm;

keel 12–17.4 mm.

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.

Legumes

narrowly ovoid or oblong-ellipsoid, 10–17 × 4.5–7 mm, glabrous or sparsely hispidulous (distally);

beak unilocular.

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.

Seeds

20–31.

2n

= 22.

Astragalus mollissimus var. coryi

Astragalus mollissimus var. bigelovii

Phenology Flowering Mar–May. Flowering (Jan–)Mar–Jun.
Habitat Calcareous clay flats and depressions on rolling plains. 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.
Elevation 500–1000 m. (1600–3300 ft.) 1200–1900(–2300) m. (3900–6200(–7500) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TX
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety coryi is locally abundant on the northwestern Edwards Plateau in Crockett, Howard, Irion, Martin, Reagan, Schleicher, Sterling, and Upton counties.

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

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.)

Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Mollissimi > Astragalus mollissimus Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Mollissimi > Astragalus mollissimus
Sibling taxa
A. mollissimus var. bigelovii, A. mollissimus var. earlei, A. mollissimus var. marcidus, A. mollissimus var. matthewsii, A. mollissimus var. mogollonicus, A. mollissimus var. mollissimus, A. mollissimus var. thompsoniae
A. mollissimus var. coryi, A. mollissimus var. earlei, A. mollissimus var. marcidus, A. mollissimus var. matthewsii, A. mollissimus var. mogollonicus, A. mollissimus var. mollissimus, A. mollissimus var. thompsoniae
Synonyms A. argillophilus A. bigelovii
Name authority Tidestrom: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 50: 21. (1937) (A. Gray) Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 13: 742. (1964)
Web links