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Photo is of parent taxon

Davis Mountains locoweed, woolly locoweed

Photo is of parent taxon

Bigelow's woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed

Habit Plants acaulescent or subacaulescent. Plants shortly caulescent, robust.
Stems

reduced to crowns.

(0 or)3–17 cm.

Leaves

5–15 cm;

leaflets 15–19(or 21), blades ovate, obovate, or broadly elliptic, 4–15(–20) mm.

9–26 cm;

stipules 6–20 mm;

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

Racemes

10–45-flowered;

axis 3–10 cm in fruit.

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

axis (4–)5–11 cm in fruit.

Peduncles

3.5–11 cm.

(5–)8–22 cm.

Flowers

calyx 6.8–9.9 mm, tube 5.2–6.4 × 2.8–3.5 mm, lobes 1.6–3.5 mm;

corolla pink-purple;

banner 11.8–16.3;

keel 10.3–12.5 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

ovoid-acuminate to lanceolate-ellipsoid, usually solid, rarely slightly turgid, 6–10 × 3–5 mm, villous-hirsute, hairs 1+ mm;

beak bilocular.

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

12–16.

20–31.

2n

= 22.

Astragalus mollissimus var. marcidus

Astragalus mollissimus var. bigelovii

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jul. Flowering (Jan–)Mar–Jun.
Habitat Open gravelly hillsides and rocky stream beds, on volcanic soils. 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 1500–2000 m. (4900–6600 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 marcidus is known from Jeff Davis and Presidio counties of the trans-Pecos region.

(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. coryi, A. mollissimus var. earlei, 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. marcidus, A. bigelovii var. marcidus A. bigelovii
Name authority (Greene ex Rydberg) Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 13: 743. (1964) (A. Gray) Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 13: 742. (1964)
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