Atlas of New MexicoAstragalus and Oxytropis

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T Agricultural Experiment Station • Research Report 715College of Agriculture and Home Economics

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to all who have assisted with thisproject. The preliminary stages of this atlas stemmedfrom the work of Bill Fox. We thank the curators of theherbaria (see Introduction) who allowed us access to theirspecimens and room to work. The various phases of datagathering and mapping proceeded rapidly and efficientlywith the help of Norman Jensen and Shawn Jensen.

CONTENTS

Nomenclature ............................................................ 1Poisonous species of Astragalus and Oxytropis ....... 1

New Mexico species known to containswainsonine: ..................................................... 1

New Mexico species known to containnitro-compounds: .............................................. 1

New Mexico species known to containselenium: ........................................................... 2

Uncommon and rare species of Astragalusand Oxytropis ........................................................ 2

References ................................................................. 2Astragalus adsurgens ................................................ 4Astragalus agrestis .................................................... 4Astragalus albulus ..................................................... 4Astragalus allochrous ............................................... 4Astragalus alpinus ..................................................... 5Astragalus altus ......................................................... 5Astragalus amphioxys ............................................... 5Astragalus bisulcatus ................................................ 5Astragalus bodinii ..................................................... 6Astragalus brandegei ................................................ 6Astragalus calycosus ................................................. 6Astragalus canadensis ............................................... 6Astragalus castetteri .................................................. 7Astragalus ceramicus ................................................ 7Astragalus chuskanus ................................................ 7Astragalus cobrensis ................................................. 7Astragalus coltonii .................................................... 8Astragalus crassicarpus ............................................ 8Astragalus cyaneus .................................................... 8Astragalus desperatus ............................................... 8Astragalus drummondii ............................................. 9Astragalus egglestonii ............................................... 9Astragalus emoryanus ............................................... 9Astragalus eremiticus ................................................ 9Astragalus feensis .................................................... 10Astragalus flavus ..................................................... 10

Astragalus flexuosus ................................................ 10Astragalus fucatus ................................................... 10Astragalus giganteus ............................................... 11Astragalus gilensis .................................................. 11Astragalus gracilis .................................................. 11Astragalus gypsodes ................................................ 11Astragalus hallii ...................................................... 12Astragalus humillimus ............................................. 12Astragalus humistratus ............................................ 12Astragalus iodopetalus ............................................ 12Astragalus kentrophyta ........................................... 13Astragalus kerrii ...................................................... 13Astragalus knightii .................................................. 13Astragalus lentiginosus ........................................... 13Astragalus lonchocarpus ......................................... 14Astragalus lotiflorus ................................................ 14Astragalus micromerius .......................................... 14Astragalus missouriensis ......................................... 14Astragalus mollissimus ............................................ 15Astragalus monumentalis ........................................ 15Astragalus naturitensis ............................................ 15Astragalus neomexicanus ........................................ 15Astragalus newberryi .............................................. 16Astragalus nothoxys ................................................ 16Astragalus nuttallianus ........................................... 16Astragalus oocalycis ............................................... 16Astragalus pattersonii ............................................. 17Astragalus pictiformis ............................................. 17Astragalus praelongus ............................................. 17Astragalus proximus ................................................ 17Astragalus puniceus ................................................ 18Astragalus racemosus ............................................. 18Astragalus ripleyi .................................................... 18Astragalus robbinsii ................................................ 18Astragalus sabulonum ............................................. 19Astragalus scopulorum ............................................ 19Astragalus sericoluecus ........................................... 19Astragalus shortianus .............................................. 19Astragalus siliceus ................................................... 20Astragalus tenellus .................................................. 20Astragalus tephrodes ............................................... 20Astragalus thurberi ................................................. 20Astragalus vaccarum ............................................... 21Astragalus waterfallii .............................................. 21Astragalus wingatanus ............................................ 21Astragalus wittmannii ............................................. 21Oxytropis deflexa ..................................................... 22Oxytropis lambertii ................................................. 22Oxytropis parryi ...................................................... 22Oxytropis sericea ..................................................... 22Oxytropis splendens ................................................ 23

Atlas Of New Mexico Astragalus and Oxytropis

Eric H. Roalson and Kelly W. Allred1

compounds and to be at least potentially toxic aregrouped by category below.

New Mexico species known to contain swainsonine:

Astragalus allochrous A. Grayvar. allochrousvar. playanus (M.E. Jones) Isley

Astragalus amphioxys GrayAstragalus bisulcatus (Hooker) Gray

var. bisulcatusvar. haydenianus (Gray) Barneby

Astragalus drummondii Douglas ex HookerAstragalus emoryanus (Rydberg) CoryAstragalus flavus NuttallAstragalus humistratus Gray

var. humivagans (Rydberg) BarnebyAstragalus lentiginosus Douglas ex Hooker

var. diphysus (Gray) JonesAstragalus lonchocarpus TorreyAstragalus missouriensis Nuttall

var. amphibolus Barnebyvar. missouriensis

Astragalus mollissimus Torreyvar. mollissimusvar. earlei (Rydberg) Tidestromvar. matthewsii (Watson) Barnebyvar. thompsonae (Watson) M.E. Jones

Astragalus oocalycis M.E. JonesAstragalus praelongus SheldonAstragalus tephrodes GrayAstragalus thurberi GrayOxytropis lambertii PurshOxytropis sericea Nuttall ex Torrey & Gray

New Mexico species known to contain nitro-compounds:

Astragalus emoryanus (Rydberg) Cory

This atlas provides distribution maps for all thespecies of Astragalus and Oxytropis found in NewMexico. This is an important group of plants, compris-ing some 80 species in the Fabaceae (pea) family, thethird largest plant family in the state. Many of thespecies in these two genera are toxic to livestock andother grazing animals (see lists below).

The maps were compiled from collection informa-tion primarily provided by the major herbaria in thestate: the Biology Herbarium at the University of NewMexico, Albuquerque; and the Biology Herbarium andRange Science Herbarium at New Mexico State Univer-sity, Las Cruces. Additional records were obtained fromthe herbaria at Western New Mexico University (SilverCity), Arizona State University (Tempe), University ofArizona (Tucson), and Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gar-dens (Claremont, California). We also relied on what-ever published sources were available, most notablyBarneby’s (1952, 1964) monumental taxonomic workson these two genera.

Nomenclature

We have tried to use the correct scientific nomencla-ture for the names of these plants and have followed AWorking Index of New Mexico Vascular Plant Names(Roalson and Allred 1995). In some cases, we had todecide between conflicting taxonomic interpretations(and their conflicting nomenclatures), but the refer-ences associated with such decisions will also be foundin the vascular plant index.

Poisonous Species of Astragalus and Oxytropis

Several species of Astragalus and Oxytropis containcompounds that are toxic to grazing animals: swainsonine(an alkaloid), nitro-compounds, and selenium (Fox etal., in press). The species that are known to contain these

1Graduate student and professor, respectively, Department of Animal and Range Sciences.

2

New Mexico species known to contain selenium:

Astragalus bisulcatus (Hooker) Grayvar. bisulcatusvar. haydenianus (Gray) Gray

Astragalus praelongus Sheldonvar. praelongusvar. ellisiae (Rydberg) Barneby

Astragalus racemosus Purshvar. racemosusvar. longisetus M.E. Jones

Uncommon and Rare Species of Astragalusand Oxytropis

Numerous species of Astragalus were listed in AHandbook of Rare and Endemic Plants of New Mexico(New Mexico Native Plant Protection Advisory Com-mittee 1984) as being particularly interesting because oftheir restricted distributions in New Mexico. There alsoare several species that have since been described orrecently found in New Mexico with limited distribu-tions. We list these species here, so that extensions andadditions to their geographic ranges may be added to thecurrent knowledge of these uncommon species.

Astragalus accumbens SheldonAstragalus altus Wooton & StandleyAstragalus castetteri BarnebyAstragalus chuskanus Barneby & SpellenbergAstragalus crassicarpus Nuttall var. paysonii (Kelso)

BarnebyAstragalus cyaneus GrayAstragalus feensis M.E. JonesAstragalus gypsodes BarnebyAstragalus humillimus Gray ex BrandegeeAstragalus kentrophyta Gray var. neomexicanus (Barneby)

BarnebyAstragalus kerrii Knight & CullyAstragalus knightii BarnebyAstragalus micromerius BarnebyAstragalus mollissimus Torrey var. matthewsii (Watson)

BarnebyAstragalus monumentalis Barneby var. cottamii (Welsh)

IselyAstragalus monumentalis Barneby var. monumentalisAstragalus naturitensis PaysonAstragalus neomexicanus Wooton & StandleyAstragalus oocalycis M.E. JonesAstragalus puniceus Osterhout var. gertrudis (Greene)

BarnebyAstragalus sericoluecus GrayAstragalus siliceus BarnebyAstragalus wittmannii BarnebyOxytropis parryi Gray

References

Barneby, R.C. 1952. A Revision of the North AmericanSpecies of Oxytropis DC. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. IV.27:177–309.

Barneby, R.C. 1964. Atlas of North American Astraga-lus Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 13:1–1188.

Fox, W.E., K.W. Allred, and E.H. Roalson. In Press. AGuide to the Common Locoweeds and Milkvetchesof New Mexico. New Mexico Agr. Exp. Sta.

New Mexico Native Plant Protection Advisory Com-mittee. 1984. A Handbook of Rare and EndemicPlants of New Mexico. University of New MexicoPress, Albuquerque.

Roalson, E.H. and K.W. Allred. 1995. A Working Indexof New Mexico Vascular Plant Names. New MexicoAgr. Exp. Sta. Research Report 702.

3

San Juan Rio Arriba

Taos

Colfax Union

HardingMora

San MiguelSanta Fe

Los Alamos

SandovalMcKinley

Cibola Bernalillo

Valencia Torrance

Guadalupe

Quay

Curry

Roosevelt

De Baca

Chaves

Lea

Eddy

Otero

Lincoln

SocorroCatron

Grant

Sierra

Dona Ana

Luna

Hidalgo

Counties of New Mexico.

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Astragalus adsurgens

var. robustior

Astragalus allochrous

var. allochrous

var. playanus

Widespread from Alaska to Manitoba, south to Wash-ington, Iowa, and New Mexico.

Southeastern California to trans-Pecos Texas, south toSonora, Durango, and Chihuahua.

Astragalus albulus

Badlands and clay slopes of northeastern Arizona andnorthwestern New Mexico.

Astragalus agrestis

Widespread in North America, Yukon Territory to Manitoba,south to California, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Iowa.

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Astragalus altus

Astragalus amphioxys Astragalus bisulcatus

var. bisulcatus

var. haydenianus

Known only from New Mexico.

Plains and foothills of Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Ari-zona, and New Mexico.

Var. bisulcatus: Alberta east to Manitoba, south toIdaho, New Mexico, and Kansas. Var. haydenianus:Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Astragalus alpinus

Widespread from Alaska to Nova Scotia, south toOregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Ver-mont.

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Astragalus bodinii Astragalus brandegei

Astragalus calycosus

var. scaposus

Astragalus canadensis

Somewhat disjunct in Alaska and northwestern Canada,and Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, and NewMexico.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Widespread from British Columbia east to Ontario,south to Washington and South Carolina.

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Astragalus cobrensis

var. cobrensis

var. maguirei

Astragalus castetteri Astragalus ceramicus

Astragalus chuskanus

Known only from New Mexico. Arid western United States, from Idaho to North Da-kota, south to Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

Known only from the Chuska Mountains of NewMexico.

Arizona and New Mexico, and probably Chihuahuaand Sonora.

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Astragalus coltonii

var. moabensis

Astragalus crassicarpus

var. crassicarpus

var. cavus

var. paysonii

Astragalus cyaneus Astragalus desperatus

Southeastern Utah and adjacent Colorado, and theFour-Corners area of Arizona and New Mexico.

Alberta to Manitoba, south through the central UnitedStates to New Mexico, Texas, and Arkansas.

Known only from New Mexico. Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.

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Astragalus drummondii Astragalus egglestonii

Astragalus emoryanus Astragalus eremiticus

Alberta and Saskatchwean, south through the RockyMountains and western prairies to New Mexico.

Western New Mexico and adjacent Arizona.

Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico.

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Astragalus feensis Astragalus flavus

var. candicans

var. flavus

Astragalus flexuosus

var. flexuosus

var. greenei

Astragalus fucatus

Known only from New Mexico. Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, and NewMexico.

British Columbia east to Ontario, south to New Mexico,Nebraska, and Minnesota.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

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Astragalus giganteus Astragalus gilensis

Astragalus gracilis Astragalus gypsodes

New Mexico, Texas, and Chihuahua. Arizona and New Mexico.

Saskatchewan south to New Mexico and Texas. North Dakota to New Mexico and Texas.

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Astragalus hallii

var. fallax

var. hallii

Astragalus humillimus

Astragalus humistratus

var. humistratus

var. sororae

var. humivagans

var. crispulus

var. hosackiae

Astragalus iodopetalus

Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Colorado and New Mexico.

Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. Colorado and New Mexico.

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Astragalus kentrophyta

var. elatus

var. implexus

var. neomexicanus

Astragalus kerrii

Astragalus knightii Astragalus lentiginosus

var. australis

var. diphysus

Alberta and Saskatchewan south to California, NewMexico, and Nebraska.

Known only from New Mexico.

Widely dispersed from British Columbia to Californiaand east through the Rocky Mountain states to westTexas.

Known only from New Mexico.

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Astragalus lonchocarpus Astragalus lotiflorus

Astragalus micromerius Astragalus missouriensis

var. missouriensis

var. mimetes

var. amphibolus

var. accumbens

Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. British Columbia to Manitoba, south through the RockyMountain and prairie states to New Mexico, Texas, andCoahuila.

Apparently known only from New Mexico. Alberta to Manitoba, south through the Rocky Moun-tains and prairie states to New Mexico and Texas.

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Astragalus mollissimus

var. mollissimus

var. earlei

var. mathewsii

var. mogollonicus

var. bigelovii

var. thompsonae

Astragalus monumentalis

var. cottamii

var. monumentalis

Astragalus naturitensis Astragalus neomexicanus

Utah and Wyoming, south to Chihuahua and Coahuila. Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Known only from New Mexico.

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Astragalus newberryi Astragalus nothoxys

Astragalus nuttallianus Astragalus oocalycis

Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and NewMexico.

Arizona, New Mexico, and Chihuahua.

Southern California and Nevada, east to Colorado,Oklahoma, Texas, and northern Mexico.

Colorado and New Mexico.

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Astragalus pattersonii Astragalus pictiformis

Astragalus praelongus

var. praelongus

var. ellisiae

Astragalus proximus

Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. New Mexico and Texas.

New Mexico and Colorado.Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, andTexas.

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Astragalus puniceus

var. gertrudis

var. puniceus

Astragalus racemosus

var. racemosus

var. longisetus

Astragalus ripleyi Astragalus robbinsii

var. minor

Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Saskatchewan south through the prairie states to NewMexico, Texas, and Oklahoma; also Utah and San LuisPotosi.

New Mexico and southern Colorado. Alaska down the Rocky Mountains to northern NewMexico, and the New England states and eastern Canada.

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Astragalus sabulonum Astragalus scopulorum

Astragalus sericoluecus Astragalus shortianus

California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, and New Mexico. Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico.

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Astragalus siliceus Astragalus tenellus

Astragalus tephrodes

var. tephrodes

var. brachylobus

Astragalus thurberi

Known only from New Mexico. Yukon east to Manitoba, south to Nevada, New Mexico,Nebraska, and Minnesota.

Nevada and southwestern Utah, Arizona, and NewMexico.

Arizona, New Mexico, and Sonora.

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Astragalus vaccarum Astragalus waterfallii

Astragalus wingatanus Astragalus wittmannii

Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico. New Mexico, Texas, and Chihuahua.

Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Known only from New Mexico.

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Oxytropis deflexa

var. deflexa

var. sericea

Oxytropis lambertii

var. bigelovii

var. articulata

Oxytropis parryi Oxytropis sericea

Saskatchewan and Manitoba south to Arizona and NewMexico.

California, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and NewMexico.

Yukon south to Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

Widespread through the Rocky Mountains from New Mexiconorth to the Yukon.

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Oxytropis splendens

Alaska to Ontario, south through the northern plainstates to Colorado and New Mexico.

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April 1997 Las Cruces, NM5C