Tine-leaved milk-vetch

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Tine-leaved milk-vetch

Tine-leaved milk-vetch leaves

Tine-leaved milk-vetch

Tine-leaved milk-vetch

Tine-leaved milk-vetch

Tine-leaved milk-vetch habit

Tine-leaved milk-vetch

Morphology

Stem

Decumbent or prostrate, stout, 4 to 28 inches long, much-branched below middle, minutely stiff-hairy, forming bushy mats.

Leaves

Alternate, mostly sessile, odd-pinnately compound, 1.5 to 4.5 inches long; leaflets 9-21, narrowly linear to filiform, somewhat sickle-shaped, 1/2 to 3 inches long, less than 1/10 inch wide, stiff, short grayish-white pubescent; tips pointed; terminal leaflet continues rachis.

Inflorescence

Racemes, spike-like, 7-30-flowered, on stout stalks 1 to 4 inches long.

Flower

Calyx tube cylindric, 5-toothed, minutely white to blackish-hairy; corollas papilionaceous, 3/4 to 1 inch long, creamy-white, dry yellowish; banner petals deeply notched, much larger than wing and keel petals.

Fruit

Pods, oval, 1/2 to 1 inch long, straight to slightly curved, firm; tips elongate points; seeds smooth, shiny, pale brown.

Ecology

Habitat

Dry, sandy or gravelly hillsides and plains, most abundant in shale or chalk soils.

Distribution

West 1/3 of Kansas.

Additional Notes