Oxytropis campestris var. spicata
Oxytropis campestris var. davisii
field locoweed, Nelson's field locoweed, Nelson's oxytrope, yellow-flower crazyweed, yellow-flower locoweed
Davis locoweed, Davis' field locoweed, Davis' oxytrope
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.
3–17(–25) cm;
stipules free ends 5–6 mm, sparsely pilose abaxially, margins ciliate, sometimes also with clavate processes;
leaflets 25–39(–45), sometimes fasciculate, blades 4–20(–29) mm.
10–30-flowered.
10–30+-flowered, elongate in fruit.
(7–)8–30(–48) cm, axis 2–23 cm in fruit.
5–35(–38) cm, axis 2–8(–14) cm in fruit.
whitish or yellowish, fading yellowish, keel tip usually not maculate, 12–19.5 mm.
usually pink-purple and fading dark purple, or bluish, sometimes polychrome, 14–19 mm.
tube 4.5–6.5 mm, lobes 1.5–3 mm.
tube 4.2–6(–6.5) mm, lobes 1.3–3 mm.
12–23 × 4–6 mm.
10–14 × 3.5–5 mm.
= 32, 48.
= 32.
Oxytropis campestris var. spicata
Oxytropis campestris var. davisii
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.)
Variety davisii is readily distinguished by the combination of its colorful flowers, fasciculate leaflets (or the tendency toward fasciculate leaflets), and elongate inflorescences. It forms apparent intermediates with Oxytropis sericea var. speciosa and at the southern portion of its range is more or less transitional to var. spicata. A relationship with var. johannensis cannot be discounted, especially with those portions of that variety with fasciculate leaflets. Specimens transitional to O. splendens make assignment of materials to one or the other difficult in particular instances.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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