Astragalus pueblae M. E. Jones, Contr. W. Bot.

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

77. Astragalus pueblae M. E. Jones, Contr. W. Bot. 14: 35. 1912

Type:— MEXICO, Puebla, Esperanza, foothills of Sierra Madre Oriental, near Pico de Orizaba , September 1911, Purpus 5645 (holotype: POM no me lo pasa el CCH 1: isotype: GH 00059431 digital image, MO-128352 digital image!, US 00001529 digital image!, RSA 0003070 digital image!, NY 00005835 !) .

Atelophragma pueblae (M. E. Jones) Rydb., Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 55: 164. 1928.

Perennial. Stems up to 60 cm long, thin, diffuse, branched from base and above, minute strigose, the trichomes up to 0.3 mm long, appressed. Stipules 1–2.5 mm long, triangular, the upper ones amplexicual and free, the lower ones connate. Leaves 3–7 cm long, leaflets 11–15, linear, the pairs separated from each other, apically obtuse, folded, adaxially glabrate, abaxially somewhat pubescent. Peduncles 3–4.5 cm long, thin; the racemes very short, 4.5–10 mm long, compact umbel-like, flowers few, 7–12. Flowers purple to pale purple; the calyx 2.4–3 × 1.5–1.9 mm, minute strigose, trichomes black and few white ones, the tube 1.6–2 mm long, campanulate, the teeth 0.5–1 mm long, subulate, the sinus deeply rounded and wide among them; the banner 6 × 3.2–3.5 mm, ovate to rhombic, recurved; the wings 5–6 × 1.4–1.6 mm, the claw 2–2.4 mm long, the blade 4–4.3 mm long, oblong to obovate, slightly oblique; the keel 4–4.3 × 1.6–1.8 mm, the claw 2–2.3 mm long, the blade 2.3–2.5 mm long, obovate, incurved. Pod deflexed, subsessile, 7–8 × 2–3 mm, oblong to obovate, triquetrous, obcompressed, basally obtuse, distally ending in a short beak, lateral faces obtuse, ventrally carinate, dorsally widely sulcate, the valves thin, minute strigose, papery, ochre or brown with age, septum absent; seeds 1.3–1.5 mm long, mitten shaped, brown, somewhat opaque.

Distribution:— Endemic to Mexico, exclusively of Puebla (Esperanza, 18°51’47’’N – 97°22’35’’W), a single record for Mexico, 2462 m ( Fig. 23).

Habitat:— Apparently in coniferous forest.

Comments:— The area of distribution and adjacent adjacent areas of this species is habitat of five other species with triquetrouss pods, but A. pueblae is the only one with very short racemes, 5–10 mm long, resembling a small umbel and with small (7–8 mm long) unilocular, oblong to obovate, but triquetrous pods.

Specimens examined:— PUEBLA: IX-1911, Esperanza, C. A. Purpus 5645 ( JEPS, MEXU) .