Oxytropis campestris var. minor
Oxytropis campestris var. dispar
field locoweed, oxytrope mineur
field locoweed
(2–)3–10(–13) cm;
stipules glabrous or glabrate abaxially, margins eciliate;
leaflets 11–23(–27), opposite or subopposite, blades 2–10 mm.
strongly dimorphic, 5–21 cm;
stipules usually concealed by vesture;
leaflets 19–25, scattered or subopposite, blades primary ones crowded, ovate, shorter, distally linear-lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 4–20 mm.
(3–)5–9-flowered, subcapitate.
8–15-flowered, ± open to elongate.
curved-ascending, 3–15(–18) cm, axis 0.3–1.5 cm in fruit.
7–19(–26) cm, axis 3–8(–11) cm in fruit.
purple fading violet, 11–18 mm.
purple, blue, pink, white, yellowish, or polychrome (in populations), 17–19(–21) mm.
tube 5–6.5 mm, lobes deltate, 0.5–1.5(–2) mm.
tube 6–6.5 mm, lobes 2–2.7 mm.
10–22 × 3.5–5 mm.
13–18 × 3.5–5 mm.
= 48.
= 32.
Oxytropis campestris var. minor
Oxytropis campestris var. dispar
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.)
Variety dispar is closely allied to var. spicata, from which it differs in the flowers being polychrome within populations and in the somewhat firmer texture of the pods. It may well be that var. dispar is the somewhat stabilized product of previous hybridization involving the disjunct pale-flowered var. spicata and the purple-flowered Oxytropis lambertii, common in the same region. However, the presence of var. johannensis, not far distant to the northeast, might account for the occurrence of darker colored flowers in this region.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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