208 



Astragalus argophyllus var. cnicensis N. Var. This is a form 

 witli long pcduncies, stipules nearly contiguous, with stems many and 

 (kusely tuited, short, ascending and with very many greenish leaves 

 wiih very ^hort and sparser pubescence, with narrowly elliptical apic- 

 u ate leaflets aliout 1 cm. long, and with claw-like pods nearly 2 cm, 

 .uug and not corrugated but ashy with short and rather dense hairs, 

 ianceolate, a little sulcate at both sutures, with the flat tip abruptly 

 arcuate to erect, decidedly obcomprcssed. Thistle Utah 1901, Mam- 

 moili Utah 1911. in fruit in May and June. 



Astragalus argophyllus var. castanaeformis (Watson Proc. Am. 

 Acad. J'.i 361 1885 as -pecies) Jones Cont. 10 62 (1902). Pods coriace- 

 ous, little wrinkled, the walls when dry in some forms are almost 

 chartaceous. conspicuously inflated, _broadly ovate-triquetrous, half- 

 oval, about 1.5 cm. long, 1 cm. wide, 5-7 mm. high, ashy, with ventral 

 >ulure raised and thickened and straight and ending in the flat very 

 siioi L :;nd deltoid beak, cross-section ovate-triciuetrous, rarely slightly 

 suicatc broadly near the base, dorsal suture very convex and raised as 

 ;i thin line l)Ut not intruded. Peduncles 2-3 cm. long. Flowers about 

 10, light-colored, the tips of wings and keel purple. Leaves 4-8 cm. 

 long, with the petiole often as long as the rachis. Leaflets 4-8 pairs, 

 obovate to elliptical, acutish to rounded, rarely 1 cm. long, ashy with 

 short pubescence. Stems densely congested and very short, with im- 

 bricated stipules. This is the thinnest-walled form of the species, it 

 g ows in the pine forests of the AlogoUons about Flagstaff and Wil- 

 liams Arizona. 



Astragalus argophyllus var. pephragmenus (Jones Cont. 5 267 

 1893 as species). Pods about 2.5 cm. long, 7-10 mm. wide, about 5 

 mm. high, very fleshy, a little wrinkled, cartilaginous, from nearly 

 lanceolate to oblong-ovate, oblique to a little arcuate, ashy, rounded 

 and jointed to a very thick and short stipe, scarcely more than strong- 

 and deltoidl}' flat-beaked, with ventral suture very thick and raised 

 (about 1 mm. thick when dry), mostly straight, with dorsal suture a 

 mere raised line externally and internally, convex, pods flattish dor- 

 sally and sometimes a little l)isulcate ventrally, cross-section about 

 oval when dry. inflated. Leaflets 5-15 pairs, about oval, apiculate. 

 rather thick, rarely 7 mm. long, densely silvery-hairy, with closely ap- 

 pressed hairs. Petioles often longer than the leaf rachis, and the leaf 

 about 5-8 cm. long.. Stems much branched and tufted, ascending, a 

 few inches long, with internodes, longer than the stipules, and the pe- 

 du' c e a little longer than the leaves. Top of the Pinal ^lts. Arizona 

 among rocks, Middle Temperate life zone. This at once suggests .X. 

 Shortianus var. cyaneus but the pubescence is that of argophyllu.* 

 with the wavy and fine hairs fixed strictly by the base, and the stems 

 ■^vith ijrodiiccd internodes, but the pods are more like that variety 



Astragalus Zionis Jones Cont. 7 652 (1895). Pods arcuate, hori- 

 zontal, abruptly long-acute with flat and subulate style, linear-oblong, 

 2.5-3 cm, long, about 7 mm. wide and high, rather triquetrous but with 

 rounded sides, flattened to a little sulcate dorsally and somewhat ob- 

 comprcssed, bnt round when fresh, with cross-section oblong exter- 

 nally and linear internally, with walls 2 mm. thick when fresh the in- 

 ner part only coriaceous and wrinkled when dry, mottled, dried im- 

 mature pods are laterally flattened, ventral suture not raised when 

 fresh, when dry the suture is conspicuously raised and with the sides 

 rather flat and at a sharp angle to eachother, jointed to the calyx, 

 rounded and rather narrowed to it, shortly sparsely shaggy with ra- 

 ther spreading hairs, never sulcate at base, widely spreading, when 

 much arched then much obcomprcssed, the thread-like beak often 1 

 cm. long. I'lowers short-racemose on stout and nearly erect pedun- 

 cles 1-2 dm. long, purple-tipped, 14-20, about 2 cm. long. Banner a 

 little over 1 cm. long, oval-ovate, with sides reflcxed 2 mm. wide in 

 the middle only, arched to 45 degrees beyond the calyx teeth, 

 and groove nearly f orming two thirds of a circle being 3 mm. wide 



