Flora of North America species comparison

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Astragalus nuttallianus var. austrinus

Astragalus nuttallianus var. imperfectus
Photo is of parent taxon

rio fronteras milkvetch, smallflower milkvetch, southern small flower milk vetch
Photo is of parent taxon

imperfect milkvetch, turkey peas
Habit Plants strigulose or hirsutulous. Plants strigulose or hirsutulous.
Stems

(1–)3–25(–35) cm.

2–30(–45) cm.
Leaves

1–6.5 cm;

leaflets 7–11(–17), blades often narrowly elliptic, sometimes broader proximally, apex rounded.

1.5–4.5(–5.5) cm;

leaflets 7–11(or 13), blades broadly to narrowly elliptic or oval, apex acute, subacute, or round.
Racemes

(1–)2–5(–8)-flowered;

axis very short in fruit.

1–4-flowered;

axis (0–)0.2–1 cm in fruit.
Peduncles

3–10 cm.

(1–)2–8(–9.5) cm.
Flowers

calyx 3.7–5.4 mm, silvery-pilose, tube (1.5–)2–3 mm, lobes 1.8–2.1 mm;

corolla white or tipped pink or purple, banner (4–)5.5–7 mm;

keel apex triangular-acute or sharply deltate, usually beaklike.

calyx 3.2–4.5 mm, strigulose or hirsutulous, tube 1.9–2.8 mm, lobes 1–1.7(–2) mm;

corolla banner 4.1–6.5(–7.3) mm;

keel apex triangular-subacute.
Legumes

13–24 × 1.8–2.8(–3) mm, glabrous or strigulose.

(10–)12–21 × 1.9–3.1 mm, bilocular or ± unilocular, glabrous or strigulose.
Seeds

14–18.

12–16.
2n

= 24.

= 22.

Astragalus nuttallianus var. austrinus

Astragalus nuttallianus var. imperfectus
Phenology Flowering Mar–May (summer–fall). Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat On limestone substrates, in various vegetative types. Mainly in Larrea and Joshua tree desert communities.
Elevation 600–2200 m. (2000–7200 ft.) 200–1600(–2100) m. (700–5200(–6900) ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; KS; NM; OK; TX; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo León, Puebla, Sonora)
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT; Mexico (Baja California)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety austrinus occurs from southern Kansas to the southern tip of Texas and northern Mexico, and westward to Arizona and southern California, where it grades into var. imperfectus (D. Isely 1998).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Variety imperfectus was circumscribed to include forms of the species with imperfectly bilocular fruits (D. Isely 1998) but, as characterized here, fruits range from bilocular to nearly unilocular. It is somewhat distinct in northwestern Arizona, southwestern Utah, southern Nevada, and southeastern California, but merges with var. austrinus to the southeast and to the south and west it is confluent with var. cedrosensis. Recommendations have been made to merge vars. cedrosensis and imperfectus (R. C. Barneby 1964; Isely). The disjunction on Stansbury Island in Great Salt Lake might be due to transport of sheep from the Mojave Desert.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Leptocarpi > Astragalus nuttallianus Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Leptocarpi > Astragalus nuttallianus
Sibling taxa
A. nuttallianus var. cedrosensis, A. nuttallianus var. imperfectus, A. nuttallianus var. macilentus, A. nuttallianus var. micranthiformis, A. nuttallianus var. nuttallianus, A. nuttallianus var. pleianthus, A. nuttallianus var. trichocarpus, A. nuttallianus var. zapatanus
A. nuttallianus var. austrinus, A. nuttallianus var. cedrosensis, A. nuttallianus var. macilentus, A. nuttallianus var. micranthiformis, A. nuttallianus var. nuttallianus, A. nuttallianus var. pleianthus, A. nuttallianus var. trichocarpus, A. nuttallianus var. zapatanus
Synonyms Hamosa austrina, A. austrinus Hamosa imperfecta
Name authority (Small) Barneby in F. Shreve and I. L. Wiggins: Veg. Fl. Sonoran Desert, 709. (1964) (Rydberg) Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 3: 109. (1942)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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