Nortli Park Co'orru'o to Pnnguilcli lake Ul;!!i aiu] Pioche X'cvy'a and 

 \sesi\vard to ilic Sierras and noilhward to the riui of the Great I'asin. 

 It grows throu.qhout the Middle Temperate life zone and far down in- 

 to ihe Lower. It reaches an a!t. of 9U00 ft. In the mountains iv pre- 

 fers rocky ridge^, and in the vallej's grows in the brush on gravelly 

 slopes but not in the shade. It is one of the earliest bloomer*, coining 

 out along with A. Xewberryi. a month earlier than A. Utanen.'-i- Oc- 

 casionally the flowers are tinged with pink or purple, but the eiifiets 

 are not obovate. A. consectus Sheldon is an intergrade between this 

 and the variety loiigilobus, with obovate leaflets. 



Astragalus Purshii var longilobus Jones Cont. 5 269 (1853 . This 

 is a form with the brilliant pink-purple flovvcrs of A. inflexus but the 

 calyx teeth very variable. Stems matted-acaulescent. Caly.x some- 

 what inflated. Peduncles rather stout and longer than the leaves. 

 Pubescence loosely long-woolly and not matted. Leaflets hardly 1 

 cm. long, oblong- obovate, acute or obtuse, about 5 pairs, contiguous. 

 Leaves rarely 7 cm. long. Pods those of the type and densely long- 

 sliaggy with hairs 3-4 mm. long. Bracts elongated. Intergrading 

 forms occur w ith shorter caly.x teeth, white flowers, and the narrow 

 leaves of Pir-'-liii This is the most common form from the Charleston 

 mountains Nevada to the .San P>ernardinos and Owen's valley of Cali- 

 fornia arid Hawthorne Nevada. It is readily mistaken for A infle.xus 

 but is stemless and with the long peduncles and the very shaggy pods 

 of A. Purshii and with its short keel. 



Astragalus Purshii var. leucolobus Jones Cont. 5 270 (1893) and 

 1(1 61 (191)2). This is a much branched and short--temmed form with 

 the internodes barely as long as the stipules. Peduncles longer than 

 the lea\es. Bracts and calyx teeth as in A. Utahensis, relatively short. 

 Calyx inflated, broadiy-oblong, and with the teeth hardly 1 cm. long, 

 truncate below and inserted on the lower corner, loosely long-woolly 

 as in A. inflexus. Flowers purple, stubby, hardly 1.5 Cm. long, blades 

 nearly equal. Leaves 3-7 cm. long. Leaflets about 6 pairs, oval to 

 obovate, rounded, rarely acutish, mostly hardly 5 mm. long, though 

 sometimes 1 cm. long and obovate. Pods oblong, conspicuously fal- 

 cate, with short and felted wool hardly 1 mm. long, aboiit 1.5 cm. long, 

 with a long and subulate beak from an abruptly contracted base. This 

 .-ippears very distinct but it intergrades with the above. It is the pre- 

 vailing form on the western side of the Sierras and San Bernardinos. 

 Lower Temperate life zone. 



Astragalus Purshii var. tinctus Jones Cont. 5 269 (1893). This is 

 a form with loosely branche(l but densely caespitosc and slender stems 

 sometimes a foot long but the season's growth rarely 1 dm long, the 

 internodes rarely as long as the stipules and white-woolly. Pedun- 

 cles about as long as the leaves. Flowers about 2 cm. long, purple, 

 about as in .\. Utahensis but with the keel of Purshii. Pod.% broadly 

 ovate to broadly oblong, a little arched, 1-1.5 cm. long, a little sulcate 

 ventrally, densely long-woolly as in A. Utahensis. Leaves rarely 1 

 dm. long. Leaflets about 4 (3-6) pairs, oblong-obovate and apiculate. 

 about 1 cm. long. Calyx teeth normally subulate and half as long as 

 the tube and the subulate bracts 1 ciu. long, but teeth twice as short. 

 This intergrades with the vars. longilobus and lectuUis. It is the 

 common form of the northern Sierras on both sides in the Middle 

 Temperate life zone and running up a little into the Upper, among 

 rocks and gravel in open places. Most common at Soda Spring near 

 Summit Nevada Co. Cal. and Carson City Nevada, a form intergrad- 

 ing with this and A. Purshii grows at Tehachapi. This variety extends 

 northward at least to Goose lake. 



Astragalus Purshii var. lectulus (Watson) Tones Cont. 10 61 (1902) 

 A. lectulus Watson Proc. Am. .\cad. 22 471 (1887). This is the most 

 reduced and remarkable form with the straggling stems of the var. 

 tinctus, and white-wooliy but still more slender and forming loose 



