Astragalus castaneiformis var. consobrinus

  • Title

    Astragalus castaneiformis var. consobrinus

  • Authors

    Rupert C. Barneby

  • Scientific Name

    Astragalus castaneiformis var. consobrinus Barneby

  • Description

    220b.  Astragalus castaneiformis var. consobrinus

    Usually very dwarf and condensed, without perceptible caudex, sometimes flowering the first season; racemes 2-7-flowered, the axis 1-10 mm. long in fruit; pedicels at anthesis 1.2-1.5 mm., in fruit 2-2.3 mm. long; calyx usually tapering toward the base, narrowly vase-shaped; petals white or whitish except for the pinkish keel-tip, turning ochroleucous when dry; wings 10.1-14.7 mm., the claws 4.8-7 (7.5) mm. long; keel 8.3-12 mm., the claws 5-7.6 mm. long; anthers 0.5-0.65 mm. long; pod obliquely ovoid or lance-ovoid, either nearly straight or gently incurved. Collections: 7 (v); representative: Ripley & Barneby 4749, 8536 (RSA), 8600 (CAS, NY, RSA); Cronquist 9367 (NY).

    Open gravelly or sandy knolls, barren stony hillsides, and cobblestone bluffs, in alluvial soils of varied composition, but only rarely on basalt, sometimes in yellow pine forest, 6000-8000 feet, apparently not common but sometimes locally plentiful on both slopes of the Colorado-Sevier watershed in eastern Sevier, western Wayne, Piute, and western Garfield Counties, Utah.—Map No. 90.—May to June. June.

    Astragalus castaneiformis var. consobrinus (cousin-german) Barneby in Amer. Midl. Nat. 41: 496. 1949.—"Utah ... southeast of Bicknell, Wayne Co., alt. 7600 ft., 10 June, 1947, fl. & fr., Ripley & Barneby No. 8605"—Holotypus, CAS! isotypi, GH, NY, RM, RSA, UTC!

    The var. consobrinus is an inconspicuous little plant, sometimes flowering precociously as a leafy tuft only 3—4 cm. across, but eventually developing a woody caudex. It coincides in range with forms of A. argophyllus but may be distinguished by the hair-attachment and by the flower’s small size.