Astragalus mollissimus var. mollissimus |
Astragalus mollissimus var. earlei |
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woolly locoweed |
Earle's woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed |
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Habit | Plants usually shortly caulescent, sometimes subacaulescent, to 45 cm. | Plants subacaulescent or shortly caulescent. |
Stems | 1.5–18 cm, internodes to 4 cm or obscured by imbricate stipules. |
to 10(–16) cm. |
Leaves | (7–)10–20(–25) cm; stipules (5–)7–17 mm; leaflets 15–27(–33), blades usually oval, ovate, or obovate, sometimes rhombic-elliptic, 5–22 mm. |
8–32 cm; stipules 5–15 mm; leaflets 19–35, blades oblanceolate, rhombic-ovate, or rhombic-obovate, (5–)10–30(–45) mm. |
Racemes | (10–)15–40-flowered; axis elongating, (2–)4–17 cm in fruit. |
15–36-flowered; axis elongating, 4–15 cm in fruit. |
Peduncles | 6–23 cm. |
(5–)8–17 cm. |
Flowers | calyx (8.8–)10.5–14 mm, tube 6.8–9.5 × 3.4–4.5 mm, lobes (2–)3–5 mm; corolla pinkish, pink-purple, pale yellow, or yellowish suffused with dull lavender; banner (16–)17.5–21.5 mm; keel 14–18 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 | shallowly crescentic or abruptly incurved near middle through ± 90°, contracted distally, narrowly oblong-ellipsoid to lanceoloid-ellipsoid, 14–24 × 4–7 mm, mostly glabrous and apex usually puberulent or hispidulous, rarely puberulent, sometimes shortly villosulous throughout; beak unilocular. |
± 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 | 26–37. |
20–30. |
2n | = 22. |
= 22, 24. |
Astragalus mollissimus var. mollissimus |
Astragalus mollissimus var. earlei |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul. | Flowering Mar–Jun. |
Habitat | Prairies, plains, valley floors, stony mesas, and fallow fields on alluvial loams, loess, on outcrops of shale, limestone, or sandstone, most abundant where vegetation is low and sparse. | Dry hills and grassy plains, on volcanic and calcareous soils. |
Elevation | 500–1900 m. (1600–6200 ft.) | 1100–1800 m. (3600–5900 ft.) |
Distribution |
CO; KS; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WY |
NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua) |
Discussion | Flowers of var. mollissimus are normally dull purplish, but in some New Mexico populations they are a pure pale yellow, the basis of forma flavus McGregor. (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. earlei | |
Name authority | unknown | (Greene ex Rydberg) Tidestrom: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 48: 40. (1935) |
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