Oxytropis campestris var. columbiana
field locoweed, slender crazyweed
(5–)8–17 cm;
stipules usually pilose, sometimes glabrescent abaxially, margins sometimes ciliate;
leaflets 11–17(or 19), opposite or subopposite, blades 9–30 mm.
10–28-flowered.
(8–)12–30 cm, axis 2–10 cm in fruit.
white, banner often veined, keel tip maculate with purplish blue, 15–20(–22) mm.
tube 5–6.5 mm, lobes (1.8–)2.5–4 mm.
16–23 × 5–7 mm.
= 48.
Oxytropis campestris var. columbiana
Variety columbiana is distinguished by the combination of small number of leaflets, whitish flowers with maculate keels, and its soft, silky pubescence; it is very similar to var. spicata, with which it is somewhat transitional. It differs in about the same manner as other varieties in this complex group of infraspecific taxa. Most of the Washington populations appear to have been eradicated by storage water in a reservoir. This variety is known currently mainly from islands in, and points around, Flathead Lake, Lake County, Montana. The tendency toward relatively large flowers and only 11–17 leaflets is similar to the so-called cervinus phase of var. spicata, which is common some distance north of Flathead Lake and extending into British Columbia.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
