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Astragalus debequaeus

Astragalus debequaeus S.L. Welsh

De Beque Milkvetch, Debeque Milkvetch

Fabaceae (Pea family)

Synonym(s):

USDA Symbol: ASDE11

USDA Native Status: L48 (N)

"Plants perennial from a branching caudex, clump-forming, mainly 2-10 dm across, arising from a woody taproot; stems 14-30 cm long, decumbent and curved-ascending; stipules 3-6 mm long, ovate to triangular, free; leaves 2-10 cm long, the leaflets 13-21, elliptic to oblanceolate, obtuse to rounded, glabrous, flat or somewhat folded, the terminal one not confluent with the rachis; peduncles 4.5-8.8 cm long, ascending; racemes 3-5.5 cm long, little elongating in fruit; flowers spreading to ascending in anthesis, 17-21 mm long; bracts 2-2.5 mm long, ovate-acuminate; pedicels 1-3 mm long; bracteoles 1 or 2, reduced or lacking; calyx 2.3-8 mm long, the tube 5-6 mm long, short-cylindric, stramineous to greenish, sparsely black strigose, the teeth 1.3-2 mm long; flowers 17-21 mm long, white, spreading to ascending at anthesis, the banner not strongly arched, but folded along the margins below the apex of the blade; pods ascending, stipitate, the stipe 2-2.5 mm long, the inflated body oblong- to lance-ellipsoid, 15-23 mm long, 6-11 mm thick, the valves thinly leathery and straw colored, unilocular, scabrid-pubescent, becoming glabrous; ovules 18-24." (reslit: 3181)

"Weber and Wittmann (2012) note that this is regarded by some as a color form of Astragalus eastwoodiae. (webref: 175).

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Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Complexity: Pinnate
Inflorescence: Raceme
Fruit Type: Legume
Size Notes: "(M)ainly 2-10 dm across." (reslit: 3181).
Fruit: "(P)roduces fruit May-July." (webref: 175).

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Apr , May , Jun

Distribution

USA: CO
Native Distribution: "Colorado River Valley in Delta, Garfield and Mesa counties, Colorado. (webref: 175).
Native Habitat: "(P)inyon-juniper and mixed desert shrub." (Reslit: 3181). "Astragalus debaquaeus is found in varicolored, fine-textured, seleniferous, saline soils of the Atwell Gulch Member of the Wasatch Formation, in areas surrounded by pinyon-juniper woodlands and desert shrub. Plants are mostly clustered on toe slopes and along drainages, but many occur on steep sideslopes. Soils are clayey but littered with sandstone fragments. Associated taxa include Astragalus flavus, Greyia, Bahia, Artemisia, Phacelia submutica, Aster, Cryptantha, Eroigonum, Grindelia, and Sitanion (Welsh 1985, O'Kane 1986, Spackman et al. 1997). Elevation Range: 4,944-6,680 feet; 1,507-2,036 meters." (webref: 175).

Web Reference

Webref 175 - RECOMMENDED BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES for DeBeque milkvetch (Astragalus debequaeus) (2014) Colorado Natural Heritage Program

Research Literature

Reslit 3181 - NEW SPECIES OF ASTRAGALUS (LEGUMINOSAE) FROM MESA COUNTY, COLORADO (1985) Welsh, Stanley L.

This information was provided by the Florida WIldflower Foundation.
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Additional resources

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

Metadata

Record Modified: 2022-10-05
Research By: Joseph A. Marcus

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