| Fabaceae |
|---|
Astragalus pulchellus BOISS. |
Astragalus L. |
| A. pulchellus Boiss.. Diagn. ser. 1(2):86 (1843). Figure 1, p. 91. Scapose or shortly caulescent perennial with a woody caudex. Leaves 4-6 cm; leaflets 6-10 mm, oblong to broadly elliptic, sparsely simple-villous, 10-12-paired; stipules c. 12 mm, triangular-cuspidate, united below. Peduncles 4-5 cm. Inflorescence a lax, cylindrical, 7-15-flowered spike. Bracts c. 4 mm, subulate. Calyx c. 10 mm, tubular, sparsely simple-villous with a few short black bifurcate hairs; teeth c. 3 mm, subulate. Corolla (on drying) purplish; standard c. 20 mm, with a lanceolate lamina. Legume 14-18 mm, elliptic-trigonous, horizontally veined, stipitate, sparsely villous with long, white, simple hairs arising from tubercles; beak 6-8 mm, curved. Fl. 6. Shaley hills, c. 2000 m. Type: [W. Iran] prope Ispahan, Aucher 4426 (iso. W!). S.E. Anatolia. B9 Van: 8 km from Van to Gürpinar, 2000 m, D. 44597! N. Iraq, W. Iran. Ir.-Tur. element. Species imperfectly known sp. aff. A. griseus Boiss., Diagn. ser. 1(6): 36 (1845). Erect caulescent perennial, 10-15 cm. Leaves 4-7 cm; leaflets 8-10 mm, elliptic, adpressed simple-hairy, 10-17-paired; stipules c. 7 mm, ovate-lanceolate. Peduncles 5-7 cm. Infructescences ovate, with 15-20 legumes. Bracts 6-8 mm, linear. Calyx 15-16 mm, campanulate in fruit, sparsely black and white pilose; teeth c. 5 mm, linear. Corolla colour unknown; standard c. 22 mm, wings c. 16 mm. Legume 10-14 mm, broadly ovate-trigonous, densely white-pilose. Fr. 7. B7 Diyarbakır: 68 km from Diyarbakır to Ergani, 1050 m, 7 vii 1951, Simon (Hb. Hub.-Mor.)! The Turkish specimen, which is in fruit, closely resembles A. griseus Boiss., a N.W. Iranian species, but differs in its longer standard and relatively shorter wings. (In A. griseus the standard is 16-18 mm and scarcely longer than the wings.) Flowering specimens are required before the affinities of the Turkish material with A. griseus can be established with certainty. Sect. Brachylobium Boiss. Dwarf caulescent herbaceous perennials. Leaves im-paripinnate, simple-hairy; stipules joined to one another, free from the petioles. Inflorescence a pedunculate raceme. Calyx not inflated, white simple-hairy. Corolla c. 5 mm. Legume pendulous, exserted from the calyx, 4-5-seeded, unilocular. - Monotypic. The flower is smaller than that of the other perennial species of Astragalus in Turkey. |