Herbs perennial, biennial, or annual, caulescent; caudex usually superficial (shallowly subter­ranean in A. perianus). Hairs basifixed. Stems single, few, or several to many. Stipules usually distinct, rarely connate at proximal nodes. Leaves odd-pinnate, subsessile to petiolate; leaflets (3 or)5–35. Racemes loosely or densely flowered, flowers spreading to ascending or declined. Calyx tubes campanulate, turbinate-campanulate, or obconic-campanulate. Corollas white, whitish, yellowish, lilac, blue-violet, or pink-purple, often drying violet, banner recurved through 40–125°, keel apex rounded, deltate, or narrowly triangular, often beaklike. Legumes usually deciduous, sessile, gynophore sometimes present, spreading, ascending, or declined, globose to ovoid, lanceoloid-oblong, or -ellipsoid, bladdery-inflated or slightly swollen, usually unilocular, rarely semibilocular. Seeds (3–)6–58(–76).

Distribution

w, c United States, n Mexico, South America.

Discussion

Species 35 (28 in the flora).

Section Inflati consists of five subsections: subsect. Macrodontes M. E. Jones (Astragalus deanei, A. douglasii, A. macrodon, A. oocarpus); subsect. Proriferi M. E. Jones (A. magdalenae, A. palmeri); subsect. Aridi M. E. Jones (A. allochrous, A. aquilonius, A. aridus, A. beatleyae, A. cerussatus, A. endopterus, A. geyeri, A. gilmanii, A. insularis, A. nutans, A. pardalinus, A. perianus, A. pubentissimus, A. sabulonum, A. serpens, A. thurberi, A. wardii, A. wootonii); subsect. Sparsiflori (M. E. Jones) Barneby (A. diaphanus, A. sparsiflorus, A. wetherillii); and subsect. Horniani Barneby (A. hornii).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Astragalus allochrous, Astragalus aquilonius, Astragalus aridus, Astragalus beatleyae, Astragalus cerussatus, Astragalus deanei, Astragalus diaphanus, Astragalus douglasii, Astragalus endopterus, Astragalus geyeri, Astragalus gilmanii, Astragalus hornii, Astragalus insularis, Astragalus macrodon, Astragalus magdalenae, Astragalus nutans, Astragalus oocarpus, Astragalus palmeri, Astragalus pardalinus, Astragalus perianus, Astragalus pubentissimus, Astragalus sabulonum, Astragalus serpens, Astragalus sparsiflorus, Astragalus thurberi, Astragalus wardii, Astragalus wetherillii, Astragalus wootonii