Flora of North America species comparison

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Oxytropis borealis var. hudsonica

Oxytropis borealis var. viscida
Photo is of parent taxon

Hudson bay locoweed
Photo is of parent taxon

boreal locoweed, Nuttall's oxytrope, oxytrope visqueux, sticky boreal crazyweed, sticky boreal locoweed, sticky crazyweed, sticky oxytrope, sticky oxytropis, viscid locoweed
Habit Plants usually to 8(–15) cm. Plants usually 8–26+ cm, glandular.
Leaves

mostly 1.5–8 cm;

leaflets 19–33, blades 1.5–6 mm.

2–21 cm;

leaflets (19–)25–39+.
Racemes

densely 3–6(–16)-flowered, subcapitate to short-spicate.

3–19+-flowered, subcapitate to elongate.
Peduncles

2.5–7 cm, axis to 1 cm in fruit, sparsely villous-pilose.

4–27 cm, often some surpassing leaves, axis often (1.5–)4–19 cm in fruit, pubescent.
Corollas

purplish, 11–16 mm;

wing blades not especially dilated distally.

pink-purple, lilac, whitish, or yellowish, keel tips maculate or not, 11–16 mm;

wing blades not especially dilated distally.
Calyces

7.5–8 mm, tube 6–6.5 mm, lobes 1–1.5 mm, not or obscurely verrucose.

7–10.5 mm, tube 4–7 mm, lobes (1–)1.5–3.5(–4.5) mm, prominently tuberculate.
Legumes

8–15 × 5–7 mm.

(8–)12–21(–30) × (4–)5–7 mm.
2n

= 16.

Oxytropis borealis var. hudsonica

Oxytropis borealis var. viscida
Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Arctic and subarctic shores. Gravel bars, roadsides, ridge crests, talus slopes, pinyon-juniper slopes, sage­brush, boreal forest, tundra communities.
Elevation 100–400 m. (300–1300 ft.) 0–3900 m. (0–12800 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
NT; NU; ON; QC; YT
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CA; CO; ID; MN; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT; NU; ON; QC; YT
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety hudsonica is closely allied to, and transitional with, var. viscida, from which it differs mainly in the usually smaller size, relatively short calyx lobes, and less marked glandularity. None of these characters is definitive in all instances, either alone or in combination.

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

Variety viscida is quite variable, with numerous subunits held together by tenuous characteristics that are difficult to define or place in a key. Variation is often great in populations from adjacent hillsides or on a single gravel bar, especially in the Arctic. Dwarf plants far removed from the range of var. hudsonica are similar to that entity; the inflorescences become capitate, and the calyx lobes are often relatively very short. Further study might reveal the need for additional segregation. The Pan-Arctic Flora (http://panarcticflora.org/) recognizes O. glutinosa and O. viscida as distinct species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Oxytropis > Oxytropis borealis Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Oxytropis > Oxytropis borealis
Sibling taxa
O. borealis var. australis, O. borealis var. borealis, O. borealis var. sulphurea, O. borealis var. viscida
O. borealis var. australis, O. borealis var. borealis, O. borealis var. hudsonica, O. borealis var. sulphurea
Synonyms Aragallus hudsonicus, O. hudsonica, O. leucantha var. hudsonica, O. leucantha var. leuchippiana, O. verruculosa, O. viscida subsp. hudsonica, O. viscida var. hudsonica O. viscida, Aragallus viscidus, Astragalus viscidus, O. campestris var. viscida, O. gaspensis, O. glutinosa, O. ixodes, O. leucantha var. depressa, O. leucantha var. gaspensis, O. leucantha var. ixodes, O. leucantha var. magnifica, O. leucantha var. viscida, O. sheldonensis, O. viscidula, Spiesia viscida
Name authority (Greene) S. L. Welsh: Great Basin Naturalist 50: 357. (1991) (Nuttall) S. L. Welsh: Great Basin Naturalist 50: 358. (1991)
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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