Flora of North America species comparison

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Oxytropis campestris var. spicata

Oxytropis campestris
Photo is of parent taxon

field locoweed, Nelson's field locoweed, Nelson's oxytrope, yellow-flower crazyweed, yellow-flower locoweed

field crazyweed, field locoweed, field oxytrope, oxytrope des champs, yellow locoweed
Habit Plants 8–40 cm, herbage sparsely to densely silky-pilose. Plants cespitose, appearing acaulescent, 4–86 cm, herbage pilose, silky-pilose, hirsute, or glabrescent.
Leaves

6–23 cm;

stipules glabrate to densely pilose abaxially, margins ciliate or eciliate, rarely with a few clavate processes;

leaflets (13–)17–33, opposite, subopposite, or scattered, blades 3–23 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

10–30-flowered.

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

(7–)8–30(–48) cm, axis 2–23 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

whitish or yellowish, fading yellowish, keel tip usually not maculate, 12–19.5 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 4.5–6.5 mm, lobes 1.5–3 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

12–23 × 4–6 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

= 32, 48.

Oxytropis campestris var. spicata

Oxytropis campestris
Phenology Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat Prairies, meadows, river terraces, woodlands.
Elevation 1200–2300 m. (3900–7500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; ID; MT; ND; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; SK
[BONAP county map]
from USDA
North America; Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety spicata is a highly variable taxon that closely resembles its counterpart var. varians farther to the north, but it presents differing facies and forms intermediate with other taxa. Morphological intermediates occur between vars. davisii and spicata in southwestern Alberta, and with var. cusickii through much of its range. Plants from British Columbia and Washington, known as var. cervinus, are similar to Oxytropis sericea var. speciosa in flower size (17–22 mm) and in number of leaflets (11–17). Occasional specimens of that entity do occur in British Columbia, and the most apparent diagnostic features, both tenuous, are the thick texture of the leaflets and the more conspicuously ochroleucous flowers of var. speciosa.

Examination of the type (S. L. Welsh 1995b) shows that the name var. spicata should be applied to the taxon that was previously known as var. gracilis. If var. spicata is recognized as a species, the name Oxytropis spicata (Hooker) Standley (1921) could not be used, since it is a later homonym of O. spicata O Fedtschenko & B. Fedtschenko (1909). The name O. monticola A. Gray would have priority. Oxytropis spicata (Hooker) Standley is an illegitimate name that applies here.

(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. 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. 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 Aragallus cervinus, A. spicatus, O. campestris var. cervinus, O. campestris subsp. gracilis, O. campestris var. gracilis, O. luteola, O. monticola, O. sericea subsp. spicata, O. sericea var. spicata Astragalus campestris, Aragallus campestris, Spiesia campestris
Name authority Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 147. (1831) (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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