Herbs perennial (sometimes flowering as annual), caulescent; caudex usually superficial, rarely subterranean. Hairs basifixed. Stems few to many. Stipules usually distinct, rarely connate at proximal nodes. Leaves odd-pinnate, petiolate; leaflets (3–)9–27. Racemes densely or loosely flowered, flowers spreading to declined. Calyx tubes campanulate. Corollas white, greenish white, cream, yellow, or pinkish to purple with wing apices pale, banner recurved through 45–80°, keel apex blunt, round, or sharply deltate, sometimes beaklike. Legumes deciduous, sessile, short gynophore present, spreading or ascending (humistrate), some eventually declined, crescentic, semi-ellipsoid, or semi-obovoid, compressed laterally or dorsiventrally, sometimes slightly 3-sided, subunilocular or sub-bilocular. Seeds 12–37.

Distribution

c, se United States.

Discussion

Species 4 (4 in the flora).

Section Villosi consists of two subsections: subsect. Austro-orientales (A. Gray) Barneby (Astragalus distortus, A. obcordatus, A. soxmaniorum Lundell) and subsect. Villosi (Rydberg) Barneby (A. villosus).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Astragalus distortus, Astragalus obcordatus, Astragalus soxmaniorum, Astragalus villosus