Stems branched, slender, some­times decumbent and ascending, (10–)15–55(–75) cm. Stipules (3–)4–14 mm, proximalmost ruptured in some very robust specimens. Leaves 5–15(–23) cm; leaflets (7–)15–23(or 25), blades (5–)7–30(–40) mm, apex usually apiculate. Peduncles stout, (4–)5–15(–20) cm, longer or shorter than leaves. Racemes (2.5–)4–9.5(–15) × 2.5–3.5 cm, flowers (11.7–)12.5–17(–17.5) mm. Pedicels 1.2–3.5(–4) mm. Flowers: calyx (6.8–)7.1–10.5(–11) mm, lobes 1–2.5(–3) mm, adaxial pair nearly always broadly triangular or deltate (and mostly shorter) than the rest; corolla ochroleucous, stramineous, or greenish white. Legumes grooved dorsally, (9–)10–15 × 2.9–4(–4.5) mm, beak 1.5–3 mm, mostly at least moderately strigulose; septum 1.5–3 mm wide. Seeds (17 or)18–25(–28). 2n = 16.

Phenology: Flowering Jun–Sep.
Habitat: Moist but often summer-dry bottomlands, ditches, creek banks with willows, lake­shores, sagebrush hillsides, near springs and seeps, alkaline meadows, depressions on rolling plains, rarely on dry sandy or gravelly soils of brushy hills or lava flows, on stiff, often alkaline, alluvial soils of diverse origin, with sagebrush but ascending along water courses into xeric pine forests.
Elevation: 400–2500 m.

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

Loading map...

B.C., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., Oreg., Utah, Wash., Wyo.

Discussion

Variety brevidens is the more xeric form of Astragalus canadensis. It is partly sympatric with var. mortonii, but var. mortonii is usually of higher, more mesic, wooded habitats. No single feature distinguishes vars. brevidens and mortonii. In Utah, var. brevidens intergrades with var. canadensis.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.