Plant Database

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Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual , Perennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Fruit Type: Legume
Size Notes: "Stems usually several, prostrate or weakly ascending, in seedlings sometimes solitary and erect, 1-7 (exceptionally, in shade, up to 15) cm. long." (bibref: 1814).
Leaf: "Stipules (1.5) 2.5-10 (13) mm. long, submembranous becoming papery in age, ovate, deltoid, triangular, triangular-acuminate or -caudate, semi- (the lowest sometimes fully) amplexicaul; leaves 2-10 (13) cm. long, all petioled, with (7) 11-21, or in some seedlings only (1) 3-7, elliptic, rhombic- elliptic, oblanceolate, or obovate, sharply acute to obtuse and mucronulate, exceptionally emarginate, distant or crowded, flat or loosely folded leaflets 3-13 (20) mm. long." (bibref: 1814).
Flower: "Peduncles ascending at anthesis, arcuate-recurved or prostrate in fruit, (1) 2.5-14 (20) cm. long, a little longer or shorter than the leaf; racemes loosely but often quite shortly (2) 4-10 (13)-flowered, the flowers ascending, the axis (0.5) 1-4.5 (6.5) cm. long in fruit; bracts submembranous becoming papery- scarious, narrowly ovate to lanceolate or lance-acuminate, 2.5-8 mm. long, pedicels ascending or arched outward in age, at anthesis slender, 0.6-1.8 mm., in fruit thickened, 1.2-2.5 mm. long; bracteoles 0-2; calyx 6.3-14.2 mm. long, pubescent like the herbage with white, mixed black and white, or all black hairs, the slightly oblique disc 1.2-2.7 (3) mm. deep, the cylindric or cylindro-campanulate, purplish calyx-tube (5.8) 7-10.5 mm. long, 3.2-4.2 (4.7) mm. in diameter, the teeth 3.7 (4.5) mm. long; petals bright pink-purple, the banner with a large striate lozenge in the fold, exceptionally pure white; banner recurved through about 40 degrees, oblanceolate, rhombic- oblanceolate, or spatulate, shallowly or deeply notched, (16.2) 19-24.5 mm. long, 8.2-12.2 mm. wide; wings a little shorter, the blades linear- or narrowly lance-oblong, usually a trifle dilated above the claw, the distal half a little narrower and either straight or incurved, obtuse, (15.1) 18-22.4 mm. long; keel (13.2) 14.3-18.8 (19.6) mm. long, the half-obovate or obliquely triangular- obovate blades rather abruptly incurved through 85-95 degrees to the rounded apex; anthers 0.5-0.85 (0.9) mm. long." (bibref: 1814).
Fruit: "Pod ascending (humistrate), variable in length and curvature, (1.5) 2-4 (5) cm. long, 5-10 mm. in diameter, most commonly 1) crescentic in profile, gently and evenly arched through 1/4-1 circle, laterally compressed and acute to long-acuminate at both ends, obcompressed at the middle; or 2) straight, but otherwise as above; or 3) obcompressed throughout below the beak; or 4) when short, then obtuse and dorsiventrally compressed at base, acuminate and laterally compressed distally; in all cases both sutures prominent their whole length, the dorsal one often sinuous, commonly depressed at the middle of the pod and lying in a double groove, the green or sometimes mottled, more or less fleshy, strigulose valves becoming stiffly leathery or subligneous, rarely a trifle spongy in age, reticulate and sometimes also wrinkled lengthwise, often rugulose on the obtuse, transversely dilated angles, either not inflexed or if so the septum present only near the middle of the pod and very narrow, not over 1.1 mm. wide; dehicence apical, through the gaping beak, and also basal, through the dorsal or both sutures; ovules (42) 44-56 (68), averaging about 50; seeds brown, variably pitted or wrinkled, sometimes lustrous, 2-2.9 mm. long.." (bibref: 1814).

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White , Pink , Purple
Bloom Time: Mar , Apr , May , Jun
Bloom Notes: "Petals bright pink-purple, the banner with a large striate lozenge in the fold, exceptionally pure white." (bibref: 1814).

Distribution

USA: AZ , NM , NV , TX , UT
Native Distribution: "Widespread and locally plentiful from southern Nevada and southern Utah east across Arizona north of the Mogollon Escarpment into central New Mexico, south along the Rio Grande into extreme western Texas and adjoining Chihuahua." (bibref: 1814).
Native Habitat: "Sandy valleys, plains, gravelly hillsides, sometimes on dunes, rarely on gumbo- clay flats, without apparent rock preference (except locally), 1600-6100 feet." (bibref: 1814).

Bibliography

Bibref 1814 - Atlas of North American Astragalus Volume 2 (1964) Barneby, Rupert C.

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Additional resources

USDA: Find Astragalus amphioxys var. amphioxys in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Astragalus amphioxys var. amphioxys in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Astragalus amphioxys var. amphioxys