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Groundplum Milkvetch - Astragalus crassicarpus
Native Species
Global Rank:
G5
State Rank:
S4
C-value:
4
Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:
External Links
General Description
PLANTS: A short, perennial forb that grows from a well branched caudex atop of a tap root. Plants are 5-40 cm and grow prostrate to ascending to erect with showy flowers and an inflated, round seed pod.
LEAVES: Pinnately dissected, with 13-21 leaflets which are oblanceolate to linear. Leaflets have (basifixed) hairs which make the plant appear slightly grayish. The leaf sheaths (stipules) are 3-8 mm long, lanceolate, and not fused around the stem. The leaves are usually taller and surpass the inflorescence.
INFLORESCENCE: A subcapitate to loose raceme arising from leaf axils with 5-20 flowers. Flowers are long, 22-30 mm, and either predominately purple or white with purple-tips. The banner petal is 22–30 mm long and moderately reflexed. The keel petal is 14–20 mm long. Sepals are 2-4 mm longs with black and/or white strigose hairs.
Montana plants are of variety crassicarpus or paysonii.
Sources: Lesica et al. 2012; Dorn 2001; and Flora of the Great Plains 1986.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
Alberta to Saskatchewan south to Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Arkansas (Lesica et al. 2012).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 195
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Grasslands and sagebrush steppe in the plains and valley zones of Montana (Lesica et al. 2012).
Ecology
POLLINATORS The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap:
Bombus vagans,
Bombus appositus,
Bombus auricomus,
Bombus bifarius,
Bombus borealis,
Bombus centralis,
Bombus fervidus,
Bombus flavifrons,
Bombus huntii,
Bombus mixtus,
Bombus nevadensis,
Bombus rufocinctus,
Bombus ternarius,
Bombus terricola,
Bombus occidentalis,
Bombus pensylvanicus,
Bombus griseocollis, and
Bombus insularis (Macior 1974, Thorp et al. 1983, Mayer et al. 2000, Colla and Dumesh 2010, Wilson et al. 2010, Koch et al. 2012, Miller-Struttmann and Galen 2014, Williams et al. 2014).
Reproductive Characteristics
FRUITS
The ovary and legume are glabrous, and grow on short petioles. Legumes are 13-20 mm long, become inflated and nearly round (globose), possess a short narrow beak, and have 2 chambers. Legumes are fleshy inside, becoming leathery with age. Fruits generally lay on the ground at maturity.
Sources: Lesica et al. 2012; Dorn 2001; and Flora of the Great Plains 1986.
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Colla, S.R. and S. Dumesh. 2010. The bumble bees of southern Ontario: notes on natural history and distribution. Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario 141:39-68.- Dorn, R. D. 2001. Vascular Plants of Wyoming. 3rd edition. Mountain West Publishing. Cheyenne, Wyoming. 412 pp.
- Koch, J., J. Strange, and P. Williams. 2012. Bumble bees of the western United States. Washington, DC: USDA Forest Service, Pollinator Partnership. 143 p.
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
- Macior, L.M. 1974. Pollination ecology of the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Melanderia 15: 1-59.
- Mayer, D.F., E.R. Miliczky, B.F. Finnigan, and C.A. Johnson. 2000. The bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of southeastern Washington. Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 97: 25-31.
- McGregor, R.L. (coordinator), T.M. Barkley, R.E. Brooks, and E.K. Schofield (eds). 1986. Flora of the Great Plains: Great Plains Flora Association. Lawrence, KS: Univ. Press Kansas. 1392 pp.
- Miller-Struttmann, N.E. and C. Galen. 2014. High-altitude multi-taskers: bumble bee food plant use broadens along an altitudinal productivity gradient. Oecologia 176:1033-1045.
- Thorp, R.W., D.S. Horning, and L.L. Dunning. 1983. Bumble bees and cuckoo bumble bees of California (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Bulletin of the California Insect Survey 23:1-79.
- Williams, P., R. Thorp, L. Richardson, and S. Colla. 2014. Bumble Bees of North America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 208 p.
- Wilson, J.S., L.E. Wilson, L.D. Loftis, and T. Griswold. 2010. The montane bee fauna of north central Washington, USA, with floral associations. Western North American Naturalist 70(2): 198-207.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- DuBois, K.L. 1979. An inventory of the avifauna in the Long Pines of Southeastern Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 113 p.
- Fritzen, D.E. 1995. Ecology and behavior of Mule Deer on the Rosebud Coal Mine, Montana. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 143 p.
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
- Meier, G.A. 1997. The colonization of Montana roadsides by native and exotic plants. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 45 p.
- Seipel, T.F. 2006. Plant species diversity in the sagebrush steppe of Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 87 p.
- Skilbred, Chester L. 1979. Plant succession on five naturally revegetated strip-mined deposits at Colstrip, Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 128 pp.
- Thompson, W. L. 1993. Ecology of Merriam's Turkeys in relation to burned and logged areas in southeastern Montana. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 195 p.
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