Astragalus lotiflorus Hook., Fl.

Castillón, Eduardo Estrada, Quintanilla, José Ángel Villarreal, Delgado-Salinas, Alfonso & Rebman, Jon P., 2023, The genus Astragalus (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae: Galegeae) in Mexico, Phytotaxa 586 (1), pp. 1921-1935 : 1921-1935

53. Astragalus lotiflorus Hook., Fl. Bor.- Amer. 1(3): 152. 1831

Type:— CANADA, About Carlton-House on the Saskatchewan, North America , non date, Drummond s.n. (holotype K 000999315 digital image!) .

Phaca lotiflora (Hook.) Torr. & A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1(2): 349. 1838. — Tragacantha lotiflora (Hook.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 946. 1891. — Cystopora lotiflora (Hook.) Lunell, Amer. Midl. Naturalist 4: 428. 1916. — Batidophaca lotiflora (Hook.) Rydb., N. Amer. Fl. 24(6): 321. 1929.

Perennial. Stems 1-several, very short, up to 12 cm long, when several, the external ones decumbent or prostrate, strigose, hirsute to pilose, the trichomes up to 2.5 mm long, fine, dolabriform, “t” shaped, joined at one point before the end, with equal ends or one shorter than another, appressed or ascending, straight or sinuous. Stipules 2.5–3.8 mm long, semi-clasping, not connate, decurrent, triangular, sometimes with purple tones. Leaves 2.5–14 cm long, leaflets 3–17, 2–27 mm long, ovate, elliptic, obovate to elliptic-obovate, abaxially canescent, adaxially glabrate o subglabrate, clearer. Only the description of chasmogamous inflorescences is included. Peduncles 2–12.5 cm long, ascending or pendulous with age, the racemes 0.7–2.5 cm long, subcapitate or ovoid, flowers 3–17. Flowers ochroleucous, whitishgreene, sometimes distally purple or with blue-purple tones, the veins lavender to purple; the calyx 5–9.7 × 2.2–3 mm, with purple tones, the tube 3.2–4.6 mm long, basally rounded, the teeth 2.2–5.2 mm long, lanceolate; the banner 8.5–14 × 4.6–6.4 mm, oblong to ovate, shallowly o deeply retuse; the wings 7.8–11.8 × 1.6–3 mm long, the claw 3.1–4.4 mm long, the blade 5.1–8.3 mm long, oblanceolate, linear, oblong to lanceolate-obovate, straight or incurved; the keel 6.4–9.8 × 2–3 mm, the claw 3.2–4.6 mm long, the blade 3.3–5.9 mm, obovate. Pod 1–3.7 × 0.5–0.8 cm, ascendant but sometimes humistrate with age, straight, lunately incurved, basally narrow to wide rounded, distally contracted in a triangular beak, dorsally widely sulcate in the basal half or flattened, ventrally carinate, the valves strigose or villose, somewhat fleshy, leathery or stiffly-papery, ochre or sometimes with purple tones, reticulate and wrinkled, septum absent; ovules 28–56; seeds 1.5–2.5 mm long, mitten shaped, brown or with purple spots, opaque.

Distribution:— Rare in Mexico, recorded only on southwest Coahuila (Map 51). Also in Canada and USA ( Fig. 15 ).

Habitat:— In limestone gravel, roadside; disturbed vegetation, few collections registered for Mexico.

Comments:— Only two species of Astragalus with dolabriform pubescence are found in northeastern Mexico, A. hypoleucus and A. lotiflorus , easily discernible by their pod as, A. hypoleucus is triquetrous.

Specimens examined:— COAHUILA: 23 October 1963, Carneros Pass, 23 mi. south of Saltillo, H. D. Ripley, R. C. Barneby MEXU, ( NY); 1 November 2004, Jume (Sierra Las Vigas), cerros al NE del Valle de Los Lirios a 6 km de San Andrés hacia Jume, R. Torres C. 16759B ( MEXU) .

Figures

FIGURE 15. Map showing the distribution of Astragalus lentiginosus var. australis, A. lentiginosus var. borreganus, A. longissimus, and A. lotiflorus in Mexico.