Hangingpod Milkvetch

Tium atropubescens (Coult. & Fisher) Rydb. Bull. Torrey Club 40:49. 1913.
Astragalus atropubescens Coult. & Fisher. Bot. Gaz. 18: 300. 1893. Astragalus Kelseyi Rydb. Mem. N. Y. Bot. Gard. 1: 241. 1900. Astragalus arrectus Kelseyi M. E. Jones, Rev. Astrag. 161. 1923.
A perennial, with a woody root and short caudex; stems several, 3-4 dm. high, sulcate, strigose; leaves ascending, 7-10 cm. long; stipules deltoid, 3-4 mm. long, spreading; leaflets 15-21, linear or oblong, 8-15 mm. long, 1.5-3 mm. wide, glabrous above, strigose-canescent beneath; peduncles 5-10 cm. long; racemes 3-5 cm. long; bracts lanceolate-subulate, 2-3 mm. long; pedicels 1-2 mm. long; calyx black-hairy, the tube 4 mm. long, 2.5 mm. broad, the teeth subulate, scarcely 2 mm. long; corolla ochroleucous, 13-14 mm. long; banner obovate, moderately arched; wings nearly as long, the blade oblanceolate, falcate, with a large auricle; keelpetals shorter, the blade broadly lunate, more strongly arched towards the obtuse apex; pod glabrous, the stipe about 4 mm. long, the body oblong, 15-20 mm. long, 4 mm. wide and thick, abruptly acute at each end, the upper suture obtuse, the lower sulcate, the cross-section broadly cordate, the septum 1.5 mm. wide.
Type locality: Deer Lodge. Montana. Distribution: Western Montana.

Perennial, Herbs, Stems woody below, or from woody crown or caudex, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules membranous or chartaceous, Stipules persistent, Stipules free, Leaves compound, Leaves odd pinnate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets opposite, Leaflets 10-many, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence axillary, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx glabrous, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals white, Petals ochroleucous, cream colored, Banner petal narrow or oblanceolate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel petals auriculate, spurred, or gibbous, Keel tips obtuse or rounded, not beaked, Stamens 9-10, Stamens diadelphous, 9 unit ed, 1 free, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Style persistent in fruit, Fruit a legume, Fruit stipitate, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit or valves persistent on stem, Fruit fleshy, Fruit coriaceous or becoming woody, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit beaked, Fruit glabrous or glabrate, Fruit hairy, Fruit 11-many seeded, Seeds cordiform, mit-shaped, notched at one end, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black.