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

woolly locoweed

Photo is of parent taxon

Earle's woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed

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

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
from FNA
CO; KS; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; WY
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua)
[BONAP county map]
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 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. marcidus, A. mollissimus var. matthewsii, A. mollissimus var. mogollonicus, A. mollissimus var. thompsoniae
A. mollissimus var. bigelovii, A. mollissimus var. coryi, A. mollissimus var. marcidus, A. mollissimus var. matthewsii, A. mollissimus var. mogollonicus, A. mollissimus var. mollissimus, A. mollissimus var. thompsoniae
Synonyms A. earlei
Name authority unknown (Greene ex Rydberg) Tidestrom: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 48: 40. (1935)
Web links