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

Thompson's woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed

Habit Plants usually shortly caulescent, sometimes subacaulescent. Plants acaulescent, 6–45 cm, from caudex.
Stems

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

mostly obscured by stipules.

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.

2–28 cm;

stipules 4–13 mm;

leaflets 15–35, blades obovate to suborbiculate or elliptic, 2–18 mm.

Racemes

densely 15–45-flowered;

axis 3.5–9 cm in fruit.

7–25-flowered;

axis 1.5–18 cm in fruit.

Peduncles

8–21 cm.

2.5–24 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 11–15.5 mm, tube 7.7–13 mm, lobes 2–4.2 mm;

corolla pink-purple;

banner 18–25 mm;

keel 15–18.5(–20.5) mm.

Legumes

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

beak unilocular.

curved, ovoid, turgid, 11–23 × 6–11 mm, densely villous-tomentose;

beak unilocular.

Seeds

28–38.

Astragalus mollissimus var. coryi

Astragalus mollissimus var. thompsoniae

Phenology Flowering Mar–May. Flowering Mar–Jun (Oct).
Habitat Calcareous clay flats and depressions on rolling plains. Salt desert shrub, mixed desert shrub, grasslands, and pinyon-juniper communities, usually on sandy substrates.
Elevation 500–1000 m. (1600–3300 ft.) (700–)1100–2400 m. ((2300–)3600–7900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TX
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; NM; NV; UT
[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 thompsoniae is transitional with var. matthewsii in northwestern New Mexico.

(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. bigelovii, A. mollissimus var. coryi, A. mollissimus var. earlei, A. mollissimus var. marcidus, A. mollissimus var. matthewsii, A. mollissimus var. mogollonicus, A. mollissimus var. mollissimus
Synonyms A. argillophilus A. thompsoniae
Name authority Tidestrom: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 50: 21. (1937) (S. Watson) Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 13: 747. (1964) — (as thompsonae)
Web links