Plants clump-forming, acau­lescent, 4–8 cm, strigulose, hairs malpighian; from superficial caudex. Stems ± obsolete, inter­nodes obscured by stipules. Leaves 2–9 cm; stipules 2–5 mm; leaflets (5–)9 or 11, blades oblanceolate to obovate, (4.5–)5–11 mm, apex obtuse, surfaces strigose. Peduncles 1.3–6 cm. Racemes 3–8-flowered, flowers spreading-ascending; axis 3–15 cm in fruit; bracts 2–5 mm. Pedicels 1–2.5 mm. Flowers 19–27 mm; calyx cylindric, 10–11.5 mm, strigulose, tube 8.5–10 mm, lobes 1–2 mm; corolla pink-purple, fading or drying ochroleucous; banner recurved through 45°. Legumes ascending (humistrate), green or purplish (not mottled), turgidly lanceoloid-ovoid (much broader basally), 15–25(–27) × 7–15 mm, unilocular, distinctly beaked, fleshy becoming alveolate-spongy, walls 1+ mm thick, exocarp and endocarp separated by thick, pulpy mesocarp, strigulose. Seeds 38.

Phenology: Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat: Salt desert shrub, Bigelow sage­brush, and juniper communities.
Elevation: 1500–1900 m.

Distribution

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Utah.

Discussion

Previously considered a synonym of Astragalus chamaeleuce, A. laccoliticus has lanceolate-ovoid (not ellipsoid) fruits without purple mottling. The species occurs in western Garfield and western Wayne counties. M. E. Jones (1923) suggested that this taxon might be a hybrid between A. chamaeleuce (A. pygmaeus in the sense of Jones) and A. musiniensis. Hybrids between Astragalus species are rare, but Jones hypothesized hybridity as the solution to explain intermediates in numerous instances in the genus.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.