SPECIES OF SPECIAL CONCERN 

 astragalus onnvallarius var. f-onvallarius 



I. SPECIES INFORMATION 

 A. CLASSIFICATION 



1. SCIENTIFIC name: Astragalus r.onvallarius Greene 



var. nnnvallarius 



2. COMMON name: lesser rushy milkvetch, timber 



milkvetch 



3. FAMILY: Fabaceae (=Leguminosae; Pea Family) 



4. genus: Astragalus is an ^^tremely large genus with 



a broad"TI^5^^ geographical and ecological 

 distribution (Hitchcock and C^^^^^^^^/^'.^i;,, 

 Rupert Barneby, the l^testmonographer of the 

 aenus, recognizes 368 species and 184 varieties in 

 SS America (Barneby 1964). There are also over 

 1500 adSttionai species in South America and the 

 Old World (Hitchcock and Cronquist 1961) . 



<?PPCTES- Astragalus nonvallarius can be recognized 



linear-leaved or leafless (particularly at the 

 iaSet aScending to erect, elongate stems arising 

 ??om^; bu?!ed r?ot crown; small, loosely racemose 

 f lowers with petals not much f "--;^^^^,^""^'^ 

 and all very strongly incurved; and linear, 

 SompJeLeSpods. Within the northwest US., only 

 A diversifolius resembles A. convallariM| . 

 larSS^I^^^Titates that "...A. divermfgUM^ ^^ 

 difficult to distinguish from A. £2nxjii||p by 

 any one consistently ^"^^^^ive differential 



sf:rdfd-abort^rs^:tatrs?"-rs\n^exampiroo?r^ 



^^^^V^^^l^^-''^^ Barneby 



fCreii-a;LrL-a!srstrer?Lr^ ^ 



"!! ne?er?iiless, ^he distinctive -^P^f °f,-\, 

 features of A. diversifolius, seen in relation to 

 a Shvsiological adaptation of a mesophytic 

 LKt^ia?e amply diagnostic." Additionally A. 

 dtversifoliSs'S^is not'occur in Montana but only 

 ff^^^I^K^^^rn Idaho, northwestern Utah and 

 historically in southern Wyoming (Barneby 1964). 



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