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

ashen milkvetch, chloride milkvetch

Photo is of parent taxon

ashen milk vetch, prescott milkvetch

Stems

2–15 cm.

0–8 cm.

Leaves

10–24 cm;

leaflets 19–25, blades flat, rhombic, rhombic-ovate, obovate, or oblanceolate, 6–26 mm, apex usually acute, sometimes obtuse.

4–16 cm;

leaflets 11–27(–31), blades mostly flat, usually obovate-cuneate, oblanceolate, or rhombic-elliptic, rarely suborbiculate, (3–)4–17 mm, apex obtuse, acute, or emarginate.

Racemes

13–24-flowered;

axis (4–)7–20 cm in fruit.

10–25(–35)-flowered;

axis (1.5–)2–8(–11) cm in fruit.

Peduncles

13–40 cm.

(4–)5–15(–21) cm.

Flowers

16.8–20.4 mm;

calyx 11.5–14 mm, pilosulous or loosely strigulose, tube 8.3–10.2 mm, lobes 2.1–3.8 mm;

corolla banner 16.8–20.4 mm;

keel 15.2–18.2 mm.

(14–)18–24 mm;

calyx 8.8–12.7(–14) mm, pilosulous to loosely strigulose, sometimes villous, tube 7.1–10 mm, lobes 1.7–2.8 mm;

corolla banner (14–)18–24 mm;

keel 14.7–20.1 mm.

Legumes

lanceolate- or oblong-ellipsoid, 22–34 × 6–10(–12) mm, beak 3–6 mm, stiffly leathery or subligneous, angles ± rugulose, strigulose-pilosulous.

oblong-ellipsoid to lanceoloid-ellipsoid or, sometimes, ovoid-acuminate, 17–30 × 6–10 mm, somewhat fleshy becoming stiffly leathery or subligneous, usually strigulose or pilosulous, sometimes glabrous.

Seeds

28–36.

24–35.

Stipules

2–15 mm, surfaces sparsely strigulose or glabrate abaxially.

2.5–11 mm, surfaces villosulous, sparsely strigulose, or glabrate abaxially.

2n

= 22.

Astragalus tephrodes var. chloridae

Astragalus tephrodes var. brachylobus

Phenology Flowering Mar–May. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Larrea and juniper communi­ties. Arid grasslands, oak-chaparral, in pinyon-juniper, juniper, or ponderosa pine forests, on volcanic, granitic, or sedimentary bedrock (including limestone).
Elevation 900–1400 m. (3000–4600 ft.) 1000–2000 m. (3300–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NV
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; NV
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

As strictly perceived, var. chloridae is restricted to the Cerbat Mountains, Mohave County, Arizona, and the Newberry Mountains, Clark County, Nevada. D. Isely (1998) allowed a somewhat broader range in Mohave County.

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

The range of var. brachylobus extends from the crest of the Mogollon Escarpment northward to the slopes of the Kaibab Plateau, westward to the Colorado River near Needles, California, and southeastward around the edge of the Gila Basin to west-central New Mexico.

The pubescent phases of var. brachylobus were aggregated into four groups, three somewhat geographically restricted (R. C. Barneby 1964). Variety brachylobus is difficult to distinguish from var. tephrodes in west-central 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. Argophylli > Astragalus tephrodes Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Argophylli > Astragalus tephrodes
Sibling taxa
A. tephrodes var. brachylobus, A. tephrodes var. tephrodes
A. tephrodes var. chloridae, A. tephrodes var. tephrodes
Synonyms A. remulcus var. chloridae A. shortianus var. brachylobus
Name authority (M. E. Jones) Barneby: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 13: 642. (1964) (A. Gray) Barneby: Amer. Midl. Naturalist 37: 466. (1947)
Web links