Astragalus eastwoodiae
Plants slender, diffuse, forming small, bushy clumps, shortly caulescent, 8–20 cm, mostly glabrous; from superficial caudex. Stems decumbent to ascending, glabrous. Leaves 3–13 cm; stipules 2–6.5 mm, submembranous becoming papery-scarious; leaflets 13–25, blades elliptic to lanceolate-elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, 1–15 mm, apex obtuse to truncate-emarginate, surfaces glabrous. Peduncles erect or ascending, 2–10.5 cm. Racemes 3–7-flowered, flowers ascending; axis 0.5–3.5(–4) cm in fruit; bracts 1.5–4.5 mm; bracteoles 2. Pedicels 1.5–3.5 mm. Flowers 18–22 mm; calyx purple, 10–12.2 mm, sparsely black-strigose, tube 8–9.5 mm, lobes subulate, 1.3–2.7 mm; corolla pink-purple; banner recurved through 45°; keel 15.4–17.7 mm, apex round. Legumes spreading to declined, pale green or red-tinged becoming stramineous, straight, oblong-ellipsoid, inflated, 14–26 × 7–14.5 mm, thinly fleshy becoming papery, usually glabrous, rarely minutely scabrid-pubescent; unilocular; stipe 1.5–4.5 mm. Seeds 20–38. 2n = 24, 26.
Phenology: Flowering late Apr–Jun.
Habitat: Seleniferous, often fine-textured soils, mixed desert shrub and pinyon-juniper communities.
Elevation: 1300–2100 m.
Distribution
Colo., Utah.
Discussion
Astragalus eastwoodiae is very closely related to A. preussii, and possibly derived from the narrow-leaved form of that species from the Colorado Basin (R. C. Barneby 1964). M. E. Jones noted this from the start and ultimately considered it as A. preussii var. eastwoodiae. The taxon is found in west-central and southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah.
Selected References
None.