Oxytropis campestris var. columbiana
Oxytropis campestris var. minor
field locoweed, slender crazyweed
field locoweed, oxytrope mineur
(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–)3–10(–13) cm;
stipules glabrous or glabrate abaxially, margins eciliate;
leaflets 11–23(–27), opposite or subopposite, blades 2–10 mm.
10–28-flowered.
(3–)5–9-flowered, subcapitate.
(8–)12–30 cm, axis 2–10 cm in fruit.
curved-ascending, 3–15(–18) cm, axis 0.3–1.5 cm in fruit.
white, banner often veined, keel tip maculate with purplish blue, 15–20(–22) mm.
purple fading violet, 11–18 mm.
tube 5–6.5 mm, lobes (1.8–)2.5–4 mm.
tube 5–6.5 mm, lobes deltate, 0.5–1.5(–2) mm.
16–23 × 5–7 mm.
10–22 × 3.5–5 mm.
= 48.
= 48.
Oxytropis campestris var. columbiana
Oxytropis campestris var. minor
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.)
Putative reports of var. minor from the Mackenzie Mountains are probably referable to the purple-flowered var. roaldii, from which var. minor differs in its flowers that average larger, and in the longer calyx tube. There are several specimens from Churchill, Manitoba, that have been variously assigned to vars. johannensis, minor, or varians. Field studies of these populations need to be undertaken to resolve this problem. The Pan-Arctic Flora (http://panarcticflora.org/) treats this taxon as a distinct species, Oxytropis terrae-novae (with O. campestris var. johannensis as a synonym).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
