Flora of North America species comparison

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Oxytropis campestris var. cusickii

Oxytropis campestris var. wanapum
Photo is of parent taxon

Cusick's field crazyweed, Cusick's field locoweed, Cusick's locoweed, Cusick's oxytrope, field locoweed, yellow locoweed
Photo is of parent taxon

field locoweed, Wanapum crazyweed, Wanapum locoweed
Habit Plants 4–15(–21) cm, herbage sparsely to densely pilose. Plants (10–)13–21 cm, herbage silky-pilose, canescent.
Leaves

1.2–12 cm;

stipules glabrous or sparsely pilose proximally, margins ciliate or eciliate;

leaflets 7–15(–17), opposite, subopposite, or scattered, blades 4–23 mm.

(11–)14–18(–22) cm;

stipules pilose abaxially, margins ciliate;

leaflets (13–)19–25(–33), scattered or subopposite, blades linear to narrowly oblong, (8–)15–25(–33) mm.
Racemes

3–15-flowered, subcapitate to somewhat elongate.

(5 or)6–12-flowered.
Peduncles

prostrate to erect, 2–19 cm, glabrate, appressed-pilose, or villous-pilose, axis 0.5–3(–6) cm in fruit.

(10–)17–21(–30) cm, axis (4–)6–8(–12) cm in fruit.
Corollas

whitish or yellowish throughout, keel tip usually not maculate, 14–18(–20) mm.

pale lavender, banner veined, keel tip maculate with purplish blue, 14–20(–23) mm.
Calyces

tube 6–9 mm, lobes 1–3.5(–4) mm.

tube 5–7 mm, lobes (1–)2–3 mm.
Legumes

10–19 × 3.5–5(–6) mm.

13–23 × 3.5–5 mm.
2n

= 48.

Oxytropis campestris var. cusickii

Oxytropis campestris var. wanapum
Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering spring.
Habitat Talus slopes, ridge crests, alpine or subalpine meadows, usually above timberline. Gravelly ridges above steep north-facing basalt talus.
Elevation 2100–3400 m. (6900–11200 ft.) 600 m. (2000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; ID; MT; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
WA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety cusickii is highly variable in flower size, especially where the large-flowered Oxytropis sericea var. speciosa occurs nearby. The existence of apparently transitional populations demonstrates the absence of consistent diagnostic features to separate what are, otherwise, rather distinctive taxa. The flowers seldom fade to a relatively bright yellowish on drying, as in O. sericea var. speciosa. It is not always possible to distinguish specimens of var. cusickii from var. spicata. Those materials traditionally passing as var. cusickii often occur in near proximity to var. spicata, which occurs at lower elevations on the same mountain ranges.

Oxytropis alpicola (Rydberg) M. E. Jones is an illegitimate name that pertains here.

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

Variety wanapum is restricted to xeric, basaltic gravels, talus, or outcrops in Grant County. Its flowers, suffused with purple, are diagnostic since no other varieties of the species in the Pacific Northwest typically have colored flowers. The narrow-bladed leaflets tend to be involute and to vary in number, usually 19–25. These vegetative features are unlike any of the other several varieties of Oxytropis campestris that occur elsewhere in North America and have lavender to purplish flowers.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Oxytropis > Oxytropis campestris Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Oxytropis > Oxytropis campestris
Sibling taxa
O. campestris var. chartacea, O. campestris var. columbiana, 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. 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
Synonyms O. cusickii, Aragallus alpicola, Astragalus alpicola, O. campestris var. rydbergii, O. paysoniana, O. rydbergii
Name authority (Greenman) Barneby: Leafl. W. Bot. 6: 111. (1951) Joyal: Great Basin Naturalist 50: 373, fig. 1. (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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