FABACEAE

LEGUME FAMILY

Annual to tree
Leaves generally compound, alternate, stipuled; leaflets generally entire
Inflorescence: generally raceme, spike, umbel or head; flowers sometime 1–2 in axils
Flowers generally bisexual, generally bilateral; hypanthium generally flat or cup-like; sepals generally 5, fused; petals generally 5, free, or the 2 lower ± fused; stamens 1–many, often 10 with 9 filaments at least partly fused, 1 (uppermost) free; pistil 1, ovary superior, generally 1-chambered, ovules 1–many, style, stigma 1
Fruit: legume, sometimes including a stalk-like base above receptacle, dehiscent, or indehiscent and breaking into 1-seeded segments, or indehiscent, 1-seeded, and achene-like
Seeds 1–several, often ± reniform, generally hard, smooth
Genera in family: ± 650 genera, 18,000 species: worldwide; with grasses, requisite in agriculture and most natural ecosystems. Many cultivated, most importantly Arachis , peanut; Glycine , soybean; Phaseolus , beans; Medicago ; Trifolium ; and many orns
Reference: [Polhill & Raven (eds) 1981 Advances in legume systematics; Allen & Allen 1981 Leguminosae]
Family description and key to genera by Duane Isely.

OXYTROPIS

Duane Isely

Perennial, unarmed, hairy
Leaves odd-1-pinnate, basal, sometimes also cauline; stipules generally partly fused to petiole, initially forming a sheath, or free
Inflorescence: raceme, generally scapose, spike- or head-like, or 1–2-flowered; bracts generally persistent
Flower: calyx lobes < tube; corolla pink-purple, white, or yellowish, keel tip beaked; 9 filaments fused, 1 free; style glabrous
Fruit ascending or reflexed, generally persistent, lanceolate or inflated, ± 2-chambered, septum arising from upper suture, ± incomplete
Species in genus: ± 300 species: Eurasia, North America
Etymology: (Greek: sharp keel)
Reference: [Barneby 1952 Proc Calif Acad Sci Series IV 27:177–309]
Seriously TOXIC: causes "staggers" in livestock, mostly outside CA.

Native

O. borealis DC. var. australis Welsh

Plant green, puberulent, glandular-sticky, sometimes tiny and cespitose
Leaves basal; leaflets 23–39, 3–10 mm, oblong-lanceolate to ovate, flat or folded
Inflorescence spike-like, exserted, sometimes longer in fruit; flowers 4–many, ascending or erect
Flower: corolla 12–18 mm, white to yellowish
Fruit ascending or erect, 8–14 mm, lanceolate to ovate in outline, somewhat inflated, papery, slightly 2-chambered; stalk-like base 0
Ecology: Aspen meadows to alpine
Elevation: 1200–3900 m.
Bioregional distribution: s High Sierra Nevada, White and Inyo Mountains;
Distribution outside California: circumboreal
Flowering time: Jul–Aug
Plants with flowers purple are var. viscida (Nutt.) Welsh
Horticultural information: TRY