Flora of North America species comparison

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Oxytropis campestris var. columbiana

Oxytropis campestris
Photo is of parent taxon

field locoweed, slender crazyweed

field crazyweed, field locoweed, field oxytrope, oxytrope des champs, yellow locoweed
Habit Plants (13–)19–30(–35) cm, herbage silky-pilose, greenish or canescent. Plants cespitose, appearing acaulescent, 4–86 cm, herbage pilose, silky-pilose, hirsute, or glabrescent.
Leaves

(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.

2–40 cm;

stipules membranous, stramineous to black, ovate to lanceolate, apex acuminate, glabrous, strigose, or pilose abaxially, margins usually ciliate, often with clavate processes;

leaflets 7–45, opposite, subopposite, scattered, or fasciculate, blades oblong to lanceolate or obovate, 1–30(–33) × 1–9(–11) mm, surfaces ± pilose.
Racemes

10–28-flowered.

2–30+-flowered, ± lax in fruit.
Peduncles

(8–)12–30 cm, axis 2–10 cm in fruit.

2–36(–48) cm, axis 0.3–10(–23) cm in fruit, pilose, villous-pilose, or glabrate;

bract narrowly lanceolate, longer than pedicel, sometimes surpassing calyx, pilose.
Corollas

white, banner often veined, keel tip maculate with purplish blue, 15–20(–22) mm.

white, whitish, yellowish, pink, pink-purple, lavender, blue, purplish-tinged, or purplish, keel tip maculate or not, (10–)12–20(–23) mm.
Calyces

tube 5–6.5 mm, lobes (1.8–)2.5–4 mm.

cylindric, 7–10 mm, hairs white, or black and white, loosely pilose;

tube (3.7–)4–9 mm, lobes 0.5–3(–4) mm.
Legumes

16–23 × 5–7 mm.

erect, sessile or subsessile, cylindric, 8–27 × 3.5–7(–9) mm, partially bilocular (by intrusion of adaxial suture), papery to leathery or membranous, pilose.
2n

= 48.

Oxytropis campestris var. columbiana

Oxytropis campestris
Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Gravel bars, stream banks, lake shores.
Elevation 300–1100 m. (1000–3600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
MT; WA
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
North America; Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Varieties ca. 15 (12 in the flora).

Comparison of North American materials of the Oxytropis campestris complex with the Linnaean type and with other authentic specimens from Eurasia indicates a close relationship. The phases, as they occur in North America, are closely matched by their Eurasian counterparts. Such similarities are not easily discounted. An inclusive, rather than an exclusive, approach is indicated and is herein adopted.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Corollas usually purple, rarely white; east of 90th meridian.
→ 2
2. Racemes (3–)5–9-flowered, axis 0.3–1.5 cm in fruit, peduncles curved-ascending, 3–15(–18) cm; calyx lobes deltate, 0.5–1.5(–2) mm.
var. minor
2. Racemes 7–12(–14)-flowered, axis 1.5–9(–11) cm in fruit, peduncles erect, (4–)8–36 cm; calyx lobes usually lanceolate, (1–)2–3 mm.
→ 3
3. Stipules glabrous or sparsely pilose abaxially; herbage silky-pilose becoming glabrate; legumes 14–27 mm; Maine, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec.
var. johannensis
3. Stipules pilose; herbage often loosely and copiously pilose; legumes 8–15 mm; Wisconsin.
var. chartacea
1. Corollas white, whitish, yellowish, purple, pink-purple, lavender, blue, bluish, pink, or polychrome; west of 90th meridian.
→ 4
4. Corollas mostly purple, lavender, blue, or pink-purple, sometimes polychrome.
→ 5
5. Plants 4–12(–16) cm; racemes 8–12(–14)-flowered, subcapitate or somewhat elongate; n Alaska, Northwest Territories, Yukon.
var. roaldii
5. Plants (9–)12–45 cm; racemes (5 or)6–15+-flowered, ± open or elongate; Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Minnesota, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Washington.
→ 6
6. Leaflets, at least some, fasciculate; corollas usually pink-purple or bluish, sometimes polychrome; sw Alberta, n British Columbia, Northwest Terri­tories.
var. davisii
6. Leaflets scattered or subopposite; corollas purple, blue, pink, white, yellowish, or polychrome (in populations, rarely all one color); Manitoba, Minnesota, North Dakota, Washington.
→ 7
7. Leaflet blades ovate, linear-lanceolate, or narrowly oblong; Manitoba, Minnesota, North Dakota.
var. dispar
7. Leaflet blades linear to narrowly oblong; Grant County, Washington.
var. wanapum
4. Corollas usually white, whitish, yellowish, or polychrome, rarely purplish.
→ 8
8. Racemes usually 2–9-flowered; plants 5–12(–18) cm; n Alaska, British Columbia, Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, Yukon.
var. jordalii
8. Racemes (3–)8–30-flowered; plants (4–)12–55 cm; Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Manitoba, Montana, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Oregon, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Yukon.
→ 9
9. Stipule margins ciliate, with clavate processes; Alaska, n British Columbia to ne Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Yukon.
var. varians
9. Stipule margins ciliate or eciliate, usually without clavate processes; Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Manitoba, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.
→ 10
10. Leaflets (13–)17–33; elevations 1200–2300 m; Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Manitoba, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Washington, Wyoming.
var. spicata
10. Leaflets 7–17(–19); elevations 300–3400 m; Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.
→ 11
11. Plants 4–15(–21) cm; corollas whitish or yellowish, keel not maculate; subalpine or alpine; Alberta, British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.
var. cusickii
11. Plants (13–)19–30(–35) cm; corollas white, keel maculate; riparian; Flathead Lake, Montana, and Columbia River above Spokane, Washington.
var. columbiana
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Oxytropis > Oxytropis campestris Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Oxytropis
Sibling taxa
O. campestris var. chartacea, O. campestris var. cusickii, O. campestris var. davisii, O. campestris var. dispar, O. campestris var. johannensis, O. campestris var. jordalii, O. campestris var. minor, O. campestris var. roaldii, O. campestris var. spicata, O. campestris var. varians, O. campestris var. wanapum
O. arctica, O. besseyi, O. borealis, O. deflexa, O. huddelsonii, O. kobukensis, O. kokrinensis, O. lagopus, O. lambertii, O. maydelliana, O. mertensiana, O. multiceps, O. nana, O. nigrescens, O. oreophila, O. parryi, O. podocarpa, O. riparia, O. scammaniana, O. sericea, O. splendens
Subordinate taxa
O. campestris var. chartacea, O. campestris var. columbiana, O. campestris var. cusickii, O. campestris var. davisii, O. campestris var. dispar, O. campestris var. johannensis, O. campestris var. jordalii, O. campestris var. minor, O. campestris var. roaldii, O. campestris var. spicata, O. campestris var. varians, O. campestris var. wanapum
Synonyms O. columbiana Astragalus campestris, Aragallus campestris, Spiesia campestris
Name authority (H. St. John) Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 6: 111. (1951) (Linnaeus) de Candolle: Astragalogia (qto.), 26, 74; (fol.), 20, 59. (1802)
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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