Plants cespitose, often densely pulvinate-cespitose, appearing acaulescent, herbage silky- to villous-pilose. Leaves 0.5–8.5 cm; stipules scarious, light tan, 4–12 mm, silky-pilose becoming glabrate, margins ciliate; leaflets 1–15(or 17), sessile, blades lan­ceolate, ellip­tic, ovate, lanceo­late, or lanceolate-oblong, 1–15 × 0.5–4 mm, apex acute, surfaces pilose or villous-pilose. Peduncles (0–)1–14(–23) cm, axis to 1 cm in fruit, pilose to hirsute; bract narrowly lanceolate, pilose. Racemes 1–12-flowered, subcapitate. Calyces campanulate to short-cylindric, villous-hirsute; tube (3.2–)4–5.5 mm, lobes 1.3–3 mm. Corollas pink-purple or white, 6–16(–17) mm. Legumes erect, sessile or subsessile, ellipsoid-cylindroid, bladdery-inflated, (7–)9–25 × 5–14 mm, subunilocular to sub-bilocular, hirtellous to villous or villous-pilose.

Distribution

w United States.

Discussion

Varieties 3 (3 in the flora).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Oxytropis oreophila var. jonesii, Oxytropis oreophila var. juniperina, Oxytropis oreophila var. oreophila

Key

1	Corollas (11–)14–16(–17) mm; leaflets 1–7; of shale and limestone in c, e, s Utah.	Oxytropis oreophila var. jonesii
1	Corollas 6–12.5 mm; leaflets 7–15 (or 17); of shale, limestone, and various igneous substrates in w United States, including Utah.	> 2
2	Peduncles 4–14(–23) cm; herbage often greenish; leaflets 9–15(–17); legumes (7–)9–17 × 6–14 mm; corollas usually 10–12.5 mm.	Oxytropis oreophila var. oreophila
2	Peduncles 0.5–2(–5) cm; herbage silvery; leaf­lets 7–11; legumes 10–12 × 5–6 mm; corollas usually 6–10 mm.	Oxytropis oreophila var. juniperina