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Photo is of parent taxon

Thompson's woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed

Photo is of parent taxon

Earle's woolly locoweed, woolly locoweed

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

mostly obscured by stipules.

to 10(–16) cm.

Leaves

2–28 cm;

stipules 4–13 mm;

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

8–32 cm;

stipules 5–15 mm;

leaflets 19–35, blades oblanceolate, rhombic-ovate, or rhombic-obovate, (5–)10–30(–45) mm.

Racemes

7–25-flowered;

axis 1.5–18 cm in fruit.

15–36-flowered;

axis elongating, 4–15 cm in fruit.

Peduncles

2.5–24 cm.

(5–)8–17 cm.

Flowers

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.

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

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

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

28–38.

20–30.

2n

= 22, 24.

Astragalus mollissimus var. thompsoniae

Astragalus mollissimus var. earlei

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun (Oct). Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat Salt desert shrub, mixed desert shrub, grasslands, and pinyon-juniper communities, usually on sandy substrates. Dry hills and grassy plains, on volcanic and calcareous soils.
Elevation (700–)1100–2400 m. ((2300–)3600–7900 ft.) 1100–1800 m. (3600–5900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; NM; NV; UT
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety thompsoniae is transitional with var. matthewsii in northwestern New Mexico.

(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. mollissimus
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. thompsoniae A. earlei
Name authority (S. Watson) Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 13: 747. (1964) — (as thompsonae) (Greene ex Rydberg) Tidestrom: Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 48: 40. (1935)
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