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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE LEGUME FAMILY | ||
| The legumes are widely used as crop
foods around the world. Some well known examples are peas (Pisum),
peanuts (Arachis hypogaea), and beans (Phaseolus).
Some legumes are planted as alternate crops to restore nitrogen to the soil
with the nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their roots nodules. Other plants,
like the sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus), are used as ornamentals The legumes are herbs or trees. These plants have pinnately or palmately compound leaves. Rarely, the leaves are simple. Stipules, or a pair of leaf-like structures, are found at the base of the leaf. The flowers are in various types of inflorescences in the leaf axils and at the top of the plant, or the flowers are solitary. The flowers are usually irregularly shaped with five petals: the banner, two wings and two keels. The banner is the outermost petal and is often quite large. The wings are the next outermost petals and are found on the sides. The keel is made of two petals that often appear fused to create a boat shape. The legumes usually have 10 stamens, commonly in a diadelphous, or nine plus one arrangement. The fruit types in this family include the legume, such as the pea, or the loment, which is constricted between the seeds. In some legume species, modifications such as tendrils or thorns may be observed. |
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| SLENDER MILKVETCH | ||
| LATIN NAME: Astragalus gracilis | ||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | ||
| Slender milkvetch grows from woody underground structures. There are usually few to several, branched stems which may grow upwards or along the ground. The leaves are odd-pinnate and have stalks up to 3 cm long. There are seven to 21 leaflets per leaf. The inflorescences are in the axils of leaves and at the top of the plant. The flower clusters are unbranched and contain between 12 and 40 flowers. The sepal tube is bell-shaped and covered in stiff, white hairs. The petals are pale or dark purple or whitish with a purple keel. The fruits are plump, fleshy pods that become leathery with age. | ||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | ||
| Slender milkvetch grows in sandy prairies. | ||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | ||
| This species is found in west-central
Saskatchewan in the Moist Mixed Grassland ecoregion. |
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| WHY IS IT RARE? | ||
| Slender milkvetch is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is extremely rare and highly regionally restricted in the province. Most local populations are small. Possible threats have been identified for this species. | ||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY SLENDER MILKVETCH | ||
| * Are the pods plump? * Are the petals purple? * Do the plants have a distinct stem? * Did you find it in west-central Saskatchewan? |
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If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found slender milkvetch! |
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