Astragalus danicus

Purple Milk-vetch

North Slope of Qu'Appelle Valley
at Round Lake
08-June-2002

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Note that the key in Budd's Flora allows either of the following characteristics for danicus, providing separate paths to the same species
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plants low, cushion-like, matted or straggling

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plants with erect or decumbent stems

 

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Note that Flora of Alberta keys danicus as having the following characteristics:
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plants with elongated stems, either prostrate or erect; not plants with short stems, cushion-like, low-tufted, or matted

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main stems prostrate, or decumbent at base and ascending; not having main stems erect from the base and mostly tall

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main stems decumbent at base and ascending; not prostrate with wide-spreading stems

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low plants, often mat-forming

Note that two of the five petals in flowers from family Leguminosae are usually united along one edge.  The keys in the flora appear to make conflicting statements about the petals being or not being united.  However, legume flowers are unmistakable.

 
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Danicus Characteristics
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plants with slender rootstalks, not with taproot and caudex

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stems 5-30 cm long

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leaves with at least 7 leaflets

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leaflets not spine-tipped

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pubescence of the leaflets composed of basifixed, not malpighian, hairs

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flowers born on more or less well developed peduncles

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inflorescence a short, dense, head-like raceme, about as long as wide

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flowers 16-18 mm long

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flowers and pods all erect

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flowers at least partly reddish, purplish, or bluish; not yellowish

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pods densely pubescent

 
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Astragalus Characteristics
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herbs

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leaves pinnately divided

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5 to 25 leaflets

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terminal leaflet normal, not a tendril

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leaves not glandular

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keel not truncate, but not tipped with a point

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pods not segmented or jointed

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pods not breaking into 1 seeded segments

 
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Leguminosae Characteristics
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plants terrestrial

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plants not with milky coloured juice

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more than one leaf

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some or all leaves alternate

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leaves with stipules

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both sepals and petals present

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usually 5 sepals, or wholly united

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petals distinct from each other, not united in a tube

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corolla with petals more or less united

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5 petals, of which 2 are usually united along one edge

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calyx regular

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corolla irregular, pea-like

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stamens more numerous than the corolla lobes

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stamens usually separate or partly so, not in a column

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ovary 1-loculed

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placentae parietal

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1 placenta

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fruit a legume