Astragalus sect. Leptocarpi
single or few to many.
odd-pinnate, petiolate to subsessile;
leaflets (3 or)5–25(or 27).
subumbellate or loosely flowered, flowers ascending, spreading, or declined.
usually pink-purple, purple or purple-tinged or -tipped, ochroleucous, or lilac, rarely whitish, banner recurved through 20–80°, keel apex acute, round, deltate, or triangular-acuminate, sometimes slightly beaklike.
tubes campanulate.
deciduous, usually sessile, rarely short-stipitate, short gynophore sometimes present, ascending, spreading to declined, incurved-ascending, or pendulous, mostly linear to linear-oblanceoloid, oblong, or crescentic, sometimes 3-sided, rarely ellipsoid or fleshy, straight or incurved, rarely slightly decurved, compressed laterally, slightly 3-sided or subterete, bilocular.
(2–)4–30.
basifixed or malpighian.
distinct.
Astragalus sect. Leptocarpi
Species 24 (18 in the flora).
Section Leptocarpi is complex morphologically, with eight subsections recognized, one of them, subsect. Coahuilani Barneby, occurring only in northern Mexico. The subsections within the flora area are: subsect. Pringleani Barneby (Astragalus nothoxys); subsect. Arizonici Barneby (A. arizonicus); subsect. Mohavenses Barneby (A. albens, A. mohavensis); subsect. Parvi Barneby (A. hypoxylus); subsect. Tricarinati (Rydberg) Barneby (A. bernardinus, A. tricarinatus); subsect. Californici (A. Gray) Barneby (A. acutirostris, A. breweri, A. claranus, A. emoryanus, A. pauperculus, A. rattanii, A. tener); and subsect. Leptocarpi (M. E. Jones) Barneby (A. leptocarpus, A. lindheimeri, A. nuttallianus, A. nyensis).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
