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Photo is of parent taxon

ashen milkvetch

ashen milkvetch, silverline locoweed

Habit Plants loosely or densely tuft-forming, acaulescent or shortly caulescent, 10–48 cm, strigulose, pilosulous, or villosulous, hairs basifixed; from branched caudex, branches often with conspicuous thatch of marcescent leaf rachises.
Stems

1–12(–15) cm.

prostrate, 0–15(–25) cm, internodes to 2(–2.5) cm, strigulose, pilosulous, or villosulous.

Leaves

4.5–10(–19) cm;

leaflets (11–)17–27(–31), blades mostly conduplicate, loosely folded, obovate-cuneate or oblanceolate, 3–16 mm, apex obtuse, emarginate, or subacute.

4–24 cm;

stipules sometimes obscurely connate at proximal nodes, 2–15 mm, submembranous becoming papery-scarious;

leaflets 11–27(–31), blades oblanceolate, obovate, obovate-cuneate, rhombic, rhombic-ovate, or rhombic-elliptic, rarely suborbiculate, 2–27 mm, apex usually obtuse or acute, rarely emarginate, surfaces usually pubescent, sometimes glabrescent or glabrous adaxially.

Racemes

(9–)11–20-flowered;

axis 2–6(–8.5) cm in fruit.

loosely (9 or)10–25(–35)-flowered, flowers ascending;

axis (1.5–)2–20 cm in fruit;

bracts 1.5–11 mm;

bracteoles usually 0(–2).

Peduncles

4–14(–17) cm.

incurved-ascending or erect, 4–40 cm.

Pedicels

0.6–3.4 mm.

Flowers

11.8–17.5 mm;

calyx (5–)6.4–8.5(–9.2) mm, tube (3.5–)4.5–6.8(–8) mm, lobes 1.2–2.2 mm;

corolla banner 11.8–17.5 mm;

keel 10.2–14.5 mm.

11.8–24 mm;

calyx cylindric to deeply campanulate, (5–)6.4–14 mm, loosely strigulose, pilosulous, or villous, tube (3.5–)4.5–10.2 mm, lobes subulate or triangular-subulate, 1.2–3.8 mm;

corolla usually pink-purple to dull lilac, rarely white or nearly so;

banner recurved through 45°;

keel 10.2–20.1 mm.

Legumes

obliquely ovoid-acuminate, 13–20 × 5–8 mm, beak 3–6 mm, thinly leathery, hardly rigid, not rugulose, densely pilosulous.

ascending, green or purplish becoming stramineous or brownish, lunately incurved or straight proximally and only beak incurved, obliquely ovoid-acuminate, lanceoloid-, oblong-, or ovoid-ellipsoid, strongly obcompressed, 13–34 × 5–10(–12) mm, ± unilocular, valves less than 1 mm thick, thinly to thickly fleshy becoming thinly leathery, stiffly leathery, or subligneous, usually densely to sparsely strigulose or pilosulous, rarely glabrous.

Seeds

26–31.

24–36.

Stipules

2–7 mm.

2n

= 22.

Astragalus tephrodes var. tephrodes

Astragalus tephrodes

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Oak brush, among junipers, in yucca-grasslands, edges of ponderosa pine forests, on granitic or volcanic bedrock.
Elevation 1400–2200 m. (4600–7200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; Mexico (Sonora)
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
sw United States; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety tephrodes is locally plentiful in the foothills of the Mogollon and Pinos Altos mountains in southwestern New Mexico, eastward to the Organ Mountains and southward into Mexico.

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

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

Astragalus tephrodes consists of two intergrading varieties (var. brachylobus, var. tephrodes) that are rather widely distributed and one (var. chloridae) that is narrowly distributed. R. C. Barneby (1947b, 1964) discussed the taxonomic complexity of the species and described the clinal variation from Arizona to the western limits of the species distribution, resulting in a classification that is necessarily arbitrary.

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

Key
1. Calyx tubes (3.5–)4.5–6.8(–8) mm, lobes 1.2–2.2 mm; corolla banners 11.8–17.5 mm, keel 10.2–14.5 mm; legumes 13–20 mm, thinly leathery; leaflets mostly conduplicate; sw New Mexico and adjoining Mexico, westward across Arizona to Verde Valley, Yavapai County.
var. tephrodes
1. Calyx tubes 7.1–10.2 mm, lobes 1.7–3.8 mm; corolla banners (14–)16.8–24 mm, keel 14.7–20.1 mm; legumes 17–34 mm, stiffly leathery or subligneous; leaflets mostly flat; Arizona, Nevada, California, and w New Mexico.
→ 2
2. Peduncles (4–)5–15(–21) cm; raceme rachis (1.5–)2–8(–11) cm in fruit; broadly distributed from se California and Nevada to New Mexico.
var. brachylobus
2. Peduncles 13–40 cm; raceme rachis (4–)7–20 cm in fruit; nw Arizona, extreme s Nevada.
var. chloridae
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Argophylli > Astragalus tephrodes Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Astragalus > sect. Argophylli
Sibling taxa
A. tephrodes var. brachylobus, A. tephrodes var. chloridae
A. accidens, A. accumbens, A. ackermanii, A. acutirostris, A. adanus, A. aequalis, A. agnicidus, A. agrestis, A. albens, A. albulus, A. allochrous, A. alpinus, A. altus, A. alvordensis, A. amblytropis, A. americanus, A. amnis-amissi, A. amphioxys, A. ampullarioides, A. ampullarius, A. andersonii, A. anisus, A. anserinus, A. applegatei, A. aquilonius, A. aretioides, A. argophyllus, A. aridus, A. arizonicus, A. arrectus, A. arthurii, A. asclepiadoides, A. asotinensis, A. asymmetricus, A. atratus, A. atropubescens, A. atwoodii, A. austiniae, A. australis, A. barnebyi, A. barrii, A. beathii, A. beatleyae, A. beckwithii, A. bernardinus, A. bibullatus, A. bicristatus, A. bisulcatus, A. bodinii, A. bolanderi, A. bourgovii, A. brandegeei, A. brauntonii, A. brazoensis, A. breweri, A. californicus, A. callithrix, A. calycosus, A. camptopus, A. canadensis, A. caricinus, A. casei, A. castaneiformis, A. castetteri, A. ceramicus, A. cerussatus, A. chamaeleuce, A. chamaemeniscus, A. chinensis, A. chloödes, A. chuskanus, A. cibarius, A. cicer, A. cimae, A. claranus, A. clevelandii, A. cliffordii, A. cobrensis, A. coccineus, A. collinus, A. coltonii, A. columbianus, A. concordius, A. congdonii, A. conjunctus, A. consobrinus, A. contortuplicatus, A. convallarius, A. cottamii, A. crassicarpus, A. cremnophylax, A. cronquistii, A. crotalariae, A. curtipes, A. curvicarpus, A. cusickii, A. cutleri, A. cyaneus, A. cymboides, A. deanei, A. debequaeus, A. desereticus, A. desperatus, A. deterior, A. detritalis, A. diaphanus, A. didymocarpus, A. distortus, A. diversifolius, A. douglasii, A. drabelliformis, A. drummondii, A. duchesnensis, A. eastwoodiae, A. egglestonii, A. emoryanus, A. endopterus, A. ensiformis, A. episcopus, A. equisolensis, A. eremiticus, A. ertterae, A. eucosmus, A. eurekensis, A. eurylobus, A. falcatus, A. feensis, A. filipes, A. flavus, A. flexuosus, A. fucatus, A. funereus, A. gambelianus, A. geyeri, A. gibbsii, A. giganteus, A. gilensis, A. gilmanii, A. gilviflorus, A. glycyphyllos, A. gracilis, A. grayi, A. gypsodes, A. hallii, A. hamiltonii, A. harrisonii, A. heilii, A. henrimontanensis, A. holmgreniorum, A. hoodianus, A. hornii, A. howellii, A. humillimus, A. humistratus, A. hyalinus, A. hypoxylus, A. inflexus, A. insularis, A. inversus, A. inyoensis, A. iodanthus, A. iodopetalus, A. iselyi, A. jaegerianus, A. jejunus, A. johannis-howellii, A. kelseyae, A. kentrophyta, A. kerrii, A. knightii, A. laccoliticus, A. lancearius, A. laxmannii, A. layneae, A. leibergii, A. lemmonii, A. lentiformis, A. lentiginosus, A. leptaleus, A. leptocarpus, A. leucolobus, A. limnocharis, A. lindheimeri, A. linifolius, A. loanus, A. lonchocarpus, A. lotiflorus, A. lutosus, A. lyallii, A. macrodon, A. magdalenae, A. malacoides, A. malacus, A. megacarpus, A. michauxii, A. microcymbus, A. microcystis, A. microlobium, A. micromerius, A. miguelensis, A. minthorniae, A. misellus, A. miser, A. missouriensis, A. moencoppensis, A. mohavensis, A. mollissimus, A. molybdenus, A. monoensis, A. montii, A. monumentalis, A. mulfordiae, A. multiflorus, A. musiniensis, A. naturitensis, A. neglectus, A. nelsonianus, A. neomexicanus, A. nevinii, A. newberryi, A. nidularius, A. nothoxys, A. nudisiliquus, A. nutans, A. nutriosensis, A. nuttallianus, A. nuttallii, A. nutzotinensis, A. nyensis, A. obcordatus, A. obscurus, A. oniciformis, A. oocalycis, A. oocarpus, A. oophorus, A. oreganus, A. osterhoutii, A. oxyphysus, A. pachypus, A. palmeri, A. panamintensis, A. pardalinus, A. parryi, A. pattersonii, A. pauperculus, A. paysonii, A. peckii, A. pectinatus, A. perianus, A. phoenix, A. pictiformis, A. pinonis, A. piscator, A. piutensis, A. plattensis, A. platytropis, A. polaris, A. pomonensis, A. porrectus, A. praelongus, A. preussii, A. proimanthus, A. proximus, A. pseudiodanthus, A. pterocarpus, A. pubentissimus, A. pulsiferae, A. puniceus, A. purshii, A. pycnostachyus, A. racemosus, A. rafaelensis, A. rattanii, A. ravenii, A. recurvus, A. reflexus, A. remotus, A. reventiformis, A. reventus, A. riparius, A. ripleyi, A. robbinsii, A. rusbyi, A. sabulonum, A. sabulosus, A. salmonis, A. saurinus, A. scaphoides, A. schmolliae, A. sclerocarpus, A. scopulorum, A. sepultipes, A. serenoi, A. sericoleucus, A. serpens, A. sesquiflorus, A. sheldonii, A. shevockii, A. shortianus, A. siliceus, A. simplicifolius, A. sinuatus, A. solitarius, A. sophoroides, A. soxmaniorum, A. spaldingii, A. sparsiflorus, A. spatulatus, A. speirocarpus, A. straturensis, A. striatiflorus, A. subcinereus, A. subvestitus, A. succumbens, A. tegetarioides, A. tener, A. tennesseensis, A. terminalis, A. tetrapterus, A. thurberi, A. tibetanus, A. tidestromii, A. tiehmii, A. titanophilus, A. toanus, A. toquimanus, A. tortipes, A. traskiae, A. tricarinatus, A. trichopodus, A. tridactylicus, A. troglodytus, A. tweedyi, A. tyghensis, A. umbellatus, A. umbraticus, A. uncialis, A. utahensis, A. vaccarum, A. vallaris, A. vexilliflexus, A. villosus, A. wardii, A. waterfallii, A. webberi, A. welshii, A. wetherillii, A. whitneyi, A. williamsii, A. wingatanus, A. wittmannii, A. woodruffii, A. wootonii, A. wrightii, A. xiphoides, A. yoderwilliamsii, A. zionis
Subordinate taxa
A. tephrodes var. brachylobus, A. tephrodes var. chloridae, A. tephrodes var. tephrodes
Name authority unknown A. Gray: Smithsonian Contr. Knowl. 5(6): 45. (1853)
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